RAWALPINDI: Pakistan conducted a successful field test of the Hatf III (Ghaznavi) missile on Tuesday, an Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release said. The launch was part of a field training excercise.
The short range surface-to-surface ballistic missile can carry nuclear and conventional warheads to a range of 290 kilometres.
The launch was witnessed by the Chairperson Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) General Rashad Mahmood, Director General Strategic Plans Division Lieutenant General Zubair Mahmood Hayat, Commander Army Strategic Forces Command Lieutenant General Obaid Ullah Khan, Chairperson NESCOM Muhammad Irfan Burney and other senior military officials and scientists.
Addressing the troops after the launch, the JCSC chairperson commended the troops on achieving technical and operational excellence in operating the state of the art weapon system.
Mahmood also congratulated all the scientists and engineers for the successful launch.
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@Joakim: Try reading the entire report before set on your mission to enlighten the world. The 79% rate is for those earning less than $2. The one that you are quoting is for $1.25. In which category Pakistan has 17% poverty. No humanitarian aid, i LOL. India is the 50th largest recipient of humanitarian aid. The aid we receive is mostly military aid. It is the money the According to the UN Pakistan is better off in gender equality as well. Shocker! Read the latest UN reports, i know uncle Modi wouldnt have you read them but you should.
@Pakistani muslim.:
Your information is totally false:
As per UN, the poverty rate in India is 21% in 2013, NOT 79%.
India does NOT receive any humanitarian aid as of 2013
@Pakistani muslim.: 79%? according to which report? paki madrasa released one? India spends less percentage in defense than pakistan. we started from 90% poverty, but you have advantage of less population and help of america and arab countries with plenty of discounts. 50 years outperformed? because of america and arab countries. but now that is history. worry abut that. 10 years of war is your own product, not other's fault. our GDP percapita is more than you, even with massive population. Now India is turning from receiver point to donor category. Yes still we use some foreign components, but we are replacing them one by one. what do you have? you exports military hardware and fighter jet? fighter jet is chinese, only thing you are doing it is manufacturing it according to chinese instructions. and name a single country that is using "your fighter jet""? we have to fulfill our own need first, so less export. Modi will come, definitely. but never make India a failed state like pakistan.
@Pakistani muslim.: Well said bro!!
The reason why Pakistan will never outgrow its defensive posturing, for all its zeal of a nation of muslims it can never truly develop into something beautiful as long as it does not make peace with india. The constant struggle to keep its military barely enough to pose any kind of threat will continue to wreak havoc on its economy. The only reason why deterrence worked with US and Russia is because of the distance at which they are separated and there physical presence. Any attempt would have been for seen and easily countered from afar, however when you place two opposite sides of nuclear powered men so close to each other, the constant struggle for superiority will keep them from ever being truly great nations. Here is an idea put all nuclear weapons into storage at central command zone at the border and unite against common enemy say takeover asia with starting from iran...
@Indian Muslim: According to that same estimate 79% of those in India live under poverty. Read the entire text before you speak. Why doesnt shining India take care of them? Why does it spend $48 Bn on defence? We started of with 90% poverty, whats your excuse? For most of the 50 years post independence we have outperformed India, economically. 10 years of war in Pakistan is what it took for you guys to overtake us.Even today the gap is not that large, your GDP per capita is $1489 compared to $ 1290 in Pak. Thats World Bank figures. India is one of the largest recipients of humanitarian aid. Also, all of your strategic military hardware is Russian or Israeli. We export military hardware and fighter jets. If I were you, id hoard all the beef i could. Uncle Modi's on his way.
I think it is better to invest in tactical warfare to clear the pests from waziristan.
I always thought thats its extremely weird that Pakistan would names missiles after foreigners like Ghaznavi(afghan of Turkic slave origin) who invaded its own regions and displaced kings of local heritage. Could someone throw some light on why this would happen? Maybe i am missing something here.
@Realist:
Couldn't agree more that countries need to jack up their conventional abilities against foreign aggression. Had that been the case, US JSOC team would have thought a million times before violating our airspace on 2nd May, 2011 out of fear of being blasted out of the sky like clay pigeons. I seriously wonder as to what happened to our conventional defences then.
Per UN 60% of Pakistani's are in poverty, only country with Polio, has to beg and borrow money from Arab's and Americans to feed next meal. Do you really want to waste money on missiles from China? Incredible, only in Pakistan!
@ahsan,
Yeah, when the genius military planners of ours devise a military doctrine like "Defence of East Pakistan lies in the West," a 71' like situation would be even exploited by Afghanistan and Nepal.
The Defence Production Industry in Pakistan always flourishes, like all other economic sectors, during the tenure of Nawaz Sharif.
@unbelievable: Yeah and end up in a '71 like situation again
@Realist: where does the army come in? Defense organizations like NESCOM are purely civilian (scientists and engineers). The nation salutes our real defenders, NESCOM and its sister organizations.
@ali: India is only testing, while Pakistan is deploying!
@Xulfjan: But he was ethnically Turk.
why named ghazni...he invaded ,looted burned and destroyed cities ..
Why is a missile named after a sword?
Load shedding, lack of clean drinking water, poor education and healthcare. Talk of distorted priorities.
Question of spending priorities. This expensive high tech offensive weapon has no practical purpose in your fight against militant/terrorist ... and India has never initiated an offensive war against Pakistan. Money could have been spent on helicopters, artillery, trucks, ammo or something that you might actually use in your current fight.
Couldn't they choose any other day, why on earth they tested their destruction will on world earth day ?
@ali
You clearly no nothing about how conventional and strategic defense paradigms work. Pakistan has long-range missiles including confirmed ICBMs. These are to keep certain aggressors in check ;)
@Xulf jan Janaan I agreed he was from Ghazna Af, but he was not Pathan he was son of Subtukeen and Turk. and at the time when he invaded Gandhara we were not here and thank to him we are here in Hazara PK.
We are proud of our brave dedicated selfless Pakistani Army who is not only defending us from the enemies of the state but also showing development in our strategic asset. A great feat by a army fighting war for the last 15 years. No army in the world can show such endurance and yet advancing technologically. We as a nation fully stand united behind our brave Army and support them from our hearts.Pakistan Army Zindabad.
india is testing long and Pak is stuck on short
@Candid1: Don't take this personally. Spinning up and down the rocket motors will only increase/decrease the range. This missile is of little threat to India. Also, Pakistan can and will never catch up with India.
Lets end this cold war. Peace be upon all.
ET, what is wrong with you???
Hatf-III was first tested in 2010, then finalized and re-tested in 2012. Today wasn't a 'test' but a 'training' exercise!
For god sake, read the press release properly:
@King Khan: Like Indian nuclear program which is stolen from the Kendu reactor Canada gave to India? lol...
Congrats .....All weather friend china
@Ali Tanoli: He was from Ghazni in Afghanistan, who invaded and pillaged the part we live in!!
Long live Ghaznavi the Turk.....
This is good news for Pakistan. In most cases when these short-medium range missiles are tested, they are usually batch tests, a quality control test to check the latest batch of missiles added to the inventory. One of the reasons Pakistan is safe from Indian aggression (post the Mumbai drama for example) is because the Indian military is aware of the scale of destruction these missiles can cause on Indian infrastructure. There is no such thing as limited conflict between Pakistan and India anymore.
The nation awaits submarine launced ballistic/cruise missiles. Something to rattle up our haters!
Success in developing strategic forces should not blind Pakistan to the need of maintaining up to date conventional forces, as strategic weapons are an instrument of last resort. There are numerous scenarios that require effective use of conventional forces, but Pakistan suffers from serious disadvantage in terms of quality and quantity of conventional weapons in comparison to what its enemy can deploy. Thus there is an urgent need for Pakistan to build up the quality and quantity of conventional weapons at its disposal, as a failure to do so will surely invite aggression which the Pakistan military is not currently equipped to handle.
Ghaznavi, the conquerer !!!!!!!!
Congrats to all! But be consistent in all arm forces because since democracy from last 6.5 years there wasn't any big numbers of experiments or fine development for Army, Navy and AirForce.
Keep going on. Long live Pakistan
India is buying all kinds of weapons from Russia,US and Israel so Pakistan's advanced missile capability is very essential to keep Indians at bay.
Of course, this is a moment of great triumph. Hatf II, Ghaznavi marks a distinct position in enhancing the defence credentials of Pakistan. The country is moving in an absolutely right direction to boost up its political sovereignty and territorial integrity. This move has this capacity to counter all the prevalent threats against the very statehood. Every country inherited this right to make every measure in order to protect its state and Pakistan is following the same lines. A big round of applause should be accredited to all those who made efforts day and night ti make this dream in reality.
Successful test of north Korean rocket :-)
A very app-laudable moment for the government of Pakistan and security divisions. It is a great success for Pakistan that by testing this missile it has actually given the red signal to the external powers or rivals and proved it self possessing a strong deterrent against any attack.
290km.?? Made in China..painted in pak..Rofl
Pakistan will maintain its credible minimum deterrence, It is the only way to stop external aggressions. Congratulations to the team for their brilliant efforts.
Good work! And before the trolls start attacking the Army, let me remind them that regardless of the current unconventional fight against terrorism, it is imperative for all countries to maintain the conventional defenses... esp when your neighbor is ploughing on with missile tests.