PHOTO: ISPR
With a range of 350 kilometres, the Ra'ad missile enables Pakistan to achieve strategic standoff capability both on land and at sea.
The state of the art Ra'ad cruise missile was built with "Cruise Technology" which has been developed by only a few countries in the world and gives the missile stealth capabilities.
The low altitude missile has high maneuverability capabilities and can deliver nuclear and conventional warheads with pin-point accuracy.
Director General Strategic Plans Division, Lieutenant General Zubair Mahmood Hayat congratulated the scientists and engineers on this acheivementr and termed the milestone as a major step towards strengthening Pakistan's full spectrum credible minimum deterrence capability.
He appreciated the technical prowess, dedication and commitment of scientists who contributed whole heartedly to make this launch a success and showed his full confidence over operational preparedness of the Strategic Forces including employment and deployment concepts, refinement and training of all ranks in operational and technical domains.
The successful launch has been commended by the President and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who have congratulated the scientists and engineers on their outstanding achievement.
COMMENTS (94)
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Pakistan is made great progress
@Pakistani Hindu: Not really, we are amused by the futility of it.
@Ammar: "I hope you know who is the Tech Developer of Atomic Fusion and Fission devices"
I know who they were maybe you don't. Also there was no Pakistani contribution on any of those.
Fission = Primarily German and British scientist on Manhattan project lead by Robert Oppenhiemer & calculations coming from Greg Breit.
Fusion = Edward Teller and Stanislaw Ulem
You think a project manager aka "Abdul Kadeer Khan" was? lol
Wow! Pakistan has enough funds to invent state of the art Missiles. The vast amount of our spending in Defense but at least we don’t have money to construct paved roads, Govt Schools & Hospitals in rural areas. The shikarpur incident is the example where Medicines, oxygen cylinders & beds in hospital’s emergency unit are not available.
@Ammar: What can I tell to someone who does not understand a difference between a nuclear bomb and a nuclear reactor.
We can make our own nuclear reactors both of type PWR, PWHR as well as Thorium and Uranium based Fast Breeder reactors but rate of our own manufacturing is too slow. Even with all the technology and design it takes years to manufacture all these plants and hence we need as many countries making these as they can to quench our thirst for power. In next 35 years we need 100 reactors. At our pace it will take a more than 60 years to do that.
These reactors are for power, unlike your country we are not obsessed with bombs and no we are not buying any 2Gen fighter aircraft from anyone when we can make 4.5 gen of our own. You have no clue, no facts. Your patriotism trumps your ability to analyze anything.
@Jim: Now go to sleep...
@Nozur, first of all rockets don't run on petrol or diesel, they run on very specific types of fuels. Secondly, have you ever seen a VIP vehicle or Army vehicle stalled due to lack of fuel? No, the lack of fuel is only for the idiots who vote idiots into power.
Well done, Pakistan! Please keep testing more missiles. There's still some way to go before your people eat grass, as one of your leaders promised. Right now, they only lack electricity and oil. Water and food shortage to follow. Perhaps you can eat missiles....or sell it to countries such as North Korea to buy food. Or maybe eat North Koreans since they have no money and no food. What an absurd country and what an absurd mindset. And @Dan, your incisive lecture on the need for GPS tech for cruise missile use is wasted on people who are consumed by their own invincibility. As it happened with Soviet Union, Pakistan will pack up without a shot being fired in anger.
And what are you Goimg to do with this thing?
4 months ago, India threatened to send you broke if you did not behave yourselves
They don't have to lift a finger to this end
Dipak@Pakistani: you fought four wars with India since 1947, lost them all, your mis-adventurer Musharaf is under house arrest and you Military and Mullahs have made you broke. All that non-sense talk doesn't mean anything. Good bye!!!
@raider: These true lovers ruled Pakistan for most of the time since Pakistan was born.During their rule 3 wars were fought with India at great cost to Pakistan.The true lovers set Pakistan on the present road to self destruction
@LS: You have wasted a lot of time reading this report..:)
so, you mean to tell us that Pakistan has theft all the technologies..hmm...let us assume that it is true...Would you please enlighten us whether the Indian Nuclear technology was developed indigenously? If YES, why India is still begging the Nuclear Powers for making the Nuclear Power Plants?? Still buying the 2nd Gen fighters from other countries?? Still buying the crappy guns from Russia?? Oh I remember! Infact India, the greatest developer of technology is the biggest buyer of Arms from the World...LOL...
Get your facts assembled Dude... I hope you know who is the Tech Developer of Atomic Fusion and Fission devices?? When you get that answer , try to find out how that technology reached the other super powers...:)
I hope that it will try to soothe your self esteem...Burns..;)
Why's the missile painted RED? Doesn't that make it too noticeable and thus easier to launch a counter missile? Bluish grey would have been a better colour, perhaps, to blend with the surroundings?
@Pakistani: "Can’t fire the firecrackers you call Agni from a wrecked launch-site, can you?"
Maybe you missed the news in your zeal to comment.. All Indian missiles starting Prithvi III are solid propellant and can be TTEL launched. There is also something called as Nuclear Triad, meaning they can also be launched from sea apart from Land and Air. BTW: We would have a wrecked launch-site if your missile reach its destination. It won't because of these: 1) Our Spy satellites 2) Your Liquid Propulsion based missiles (too slow to fuel) 3) Our Multi-Layered Ballistic missile defense system 4) Our LRTR AESA 5) Our AEWAC systems
If you try this cruise missile of yours then we can shoot it down with our LRSAMs.
Once you try any of them then wait like a sitting duck for retaliation because just having a bunch of AEWAC systems won't do you any good if you don't have a accurate hypersonic missile to shoot it down...
Dipak@Pops: This is the way they got it from their best friend. There was not enough time to repaint as before.
@Ammar: Shaheen what is that? Oh forgot about it North Korean No-Dong Missile renamed and repainted.. What is Pakistan's contribution in it except the paint job? =------------------------------------------
Despite the PRC’s November 2000 missile nonproliferation pledge, in the first several months of 2001, a PRC company reportedly delivered 12 shipments of missile components to Pakistan’s Shaheen-1 SRBM and Shaheen-2 MRBM programs, according to the Washington Times (August 6, 2001). On September 1, 2001, the State Department imposed sanctions on China Metallurgical Equipment Corporation (CMEC) for proliferation of missile technology (Category II items of the MTCR) to Pakistan. In November 2004, the DCI told Congress in a Section 721 report that, in the second half of 2003, PRC entities helped Pakistan to advance toward serial production of solidfuel SRBMs (previously identified as the Shaheen-1, Abdali, and Ghaznavi) and supported Pakistan’s development of solid-fuel MRBMs (previously noted as the Shaheen-2 MRBM). The DNI’s Section 721 Report for 2011 reported that PRC entities continued to supply missile-related items to Pakistan. Though that report stressed that they were “primarily” private entities, entities could include state-owned organizations. The report also stressed entities, not the regime. =------------ http://missilethreat.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/RL31555.pdf
That is the truth of your missile program
@Zain: Well they are horses for you.. In my land they are called AEWACS with AESA radars and Barak-8 for killing any of these kind of nonsense.
@Pakistani: Wow so a missile expert thinks that shape of the missile has no effect on the stealth? Do you know that there are LRTR AESA Radars to your east that can detect something as small as a cricket ball and track multiple of them as far as 600km away? Do you know that the time it takes this missile to travel 350km it can be detected and destroyed in less than 10 minutes after launch? Useless/ ineffective missile. I would be little scared if this was more than Mach 3 hyper-sonic one. Which you don't have....
What is the point of this missile I fail to understand. Its a subsonic missile with such wide and large air-frame and wings increasing the signature it would take it for-ever to cover its range (around 36 mins). It can be detected by any AWACS as well as any LRTR AESA Radar and can be killed in flight by a supersonic missile killer before it reaches its destination. Moreover there are countless missiles that have AESA radar that is employed in final stages... rendering this missile useless.
My dear countries ( India &Pakistan) My name is Poor, who sleep on streets every night, my daughter doesn't has cover so everyone who pass by watch her ----. My 2 year old ask me every day for when he is going to school yet he has to sleep naked in rain with no shelter on him, his mother try to cover him in her lap but he shivers every 2 min from cold. We sleep in corner of street where we fight every night for place guess with who--- street dogs who almost share place with us. I can go on and on to tell you my story but please don't feed us don't provide us a shelter or book or pen or food but atleast don't build these monsters. Do you know why I ask you my dear protector? because eventually these weapon will kill us ------- not you
From poor millions pepole who are still living with out basic human right.
@Iqbal: its an air launched stealth cruise missile. means its shot from a plane flies near the ground and is undetectable. its not an icbm those are huge missles the ones launced from silos that travel the 1000's of km and many countries have defenses for
@Iqbal: I dont think you have a very good understand of misslie tech... Different types of missiles require different tech, making shorter range ones allows for strategic depth that longer range ones dont. Also, the tech required for shorter range is more complex because of a host of reasons...
@Zain:
Or maybe it is colored based on destination ;)
These missiles are not as "stealth" (only radar) as it claims. Any country with a good satellite network can detect these missiles very easily and destroy them well before they reach their target or even launch. I have a feeling that China is selling Pakistan all their low grade weapons which will make them feel good, but would not be of much use when dealing with a sophisticated adversary.
@ajeet: looks like you farted lol
Pakistan is still using the same Red color after it got the missile from China. The secret is out! China is careful not to give any missile over 800 km to Pakistan just in case they try to attack China one day. :)
You don't have expertise to manufacture car, truck or train, but every one of your missiles fly correctly on first attempt? You must be very intelligent to buy into ISPR propaganda. This looks the same as CF series from China.
@PirG: typical frustrated comment from an indian in disguise. be a man and dont pretend to be a pakistani
@Iqbal: 3500? Who do you want to bomb? Japan? Raad is delivered from jf17 and can easily hit ANY land or sea based targets of our ONLY enemy!
@Iqbal: Hatf series is not a long range missile but a short range one. Therefore the range stated in the report is correct. Long range missiles are Ghauri and Shaheen
@Iqbal: 350 km is enough for India. All international political scientists and defense analysts praise Pakistan's strategy of short and medium range missiles. We haven't got any enemy living 3500 km away.
So is it going to cure polio ? LOL
@Zain: and then we can send it back to you doubly loaded with the goodies you love
Dears This range of missile is strategically ideal for any country.
Dears This range of missile is strategically ideal for any country when there's a neighbour india.
good ..Pakistan ZindaBad
@Iqbal: There r different types of missiles...the ones wid long ranges are usually ballistic missiles which go into the space ...this one is cruise missile ... every miasile has its own purpose and use ....
Soviet Union had more bombs and missiles than any nation on Earth. Yet it failed.
North Korea, which actually gave these missiles, in return for Pakistani nukes, is a failed country which can't afford to feed its own people. It too is closely allied with China and is a nuisance to its neighbours.
Pakistan is certainly not the first country to follow this path.
@Karachiwala: dear u put a thoughtful analysis, thank u for information
@numbersnumbers Your answer is also a little wrong. Stealth as a concept is to reduce detectability. The physical attributes designed to reflect radar (or use of paint to absorb radar) are only part of stealth design. It's predominantly in Fighter planes and somewhat in warships. Stealth for Submarines is more to do with reducing noise, stealth in tanks and land based vehicles is based around making them harder to see, or reducing heat signatures. To be able to fly in a ground hugging manner, makes a cruise missile "stealthier" than a traditional ballistic missile.
Dan - Also wrong. Satelite information is only required for tracking small moving targets at long distances. Cruise missiles can just as easily be guided by radar, laser pointers, or if hitting stationary targets, in built maps. Pakistan currently operates GLOSSNAS and will be upgrading to Beidu-2.
@ajeet: You are just expressing your jealousy and fear.
This is an air launch cruise missile not a ballistic missile to the idiots who are talking about Indian 5K+ Agni missile test. Curise missiles normally ranges under 1000 KM. Surface to surface variant of this Pakistani cruise family is Babur. Congrats to Pakistani missile engineers since cruise tech is the most hardest one of all. It takes years to master such capability and we have been doing it for the last 10 years or so.
@ Dan
Good point Dan and you are right but you dont need permission whenever you turn on your gps device found in every car in western world. Plus gps calculations and terrain can be fed into missiles long before launch so it might not be using gps when cruising. I dont think autopilot in commercial aircraft uses gps either which existed even before gps. An anti sattellite missile system which is not very complex may be an answer to indian satellites such rocket engines could be supplied by china. Just like your satellite launch engines came from russia hey we can get it from russia as well now Putin is furious over modi obama hugging.
@Shakeel: No petrol to run vehicles.How is this going to fire or take off...wishes and pious hopes?
From a pakistani living in Dubai:
Forgive my presupposition but the great english language skills being demonstrated by my country-fellows battling with bordering country-fellows show they probably have not seen the rough life lived over and below the poverty line which many of our people are subjected to. For a change go to some rural spot and see with your eyes how life actually happens in reality.
Are we trying to save some at the cost of many? Why not spend this money on education, food, health and security of the people of this country.
I am sure most of the indians keep this concern and they raise the same kind of concern when they see injustice in their own homeland. They are human beings just like us so may be it is not a good idea to bash them for their remarks.
Has the development and deployment of strategic weapons really made Pakistan more secure or is that beside the point?
You all are missing the point that this is a stealth cruise missile, which is not detected on missile and has high maneuverability it can change targets on the fly and it flys low, 350 KM is good enough for such sophisticated missile.
For the color being red and white, are you guys kidding me? It does not have to camouflage stupids! It's not a truck.
@ meghana
Man has reached Moon long ago if you have spare billions to reach this obsolete goal then let it be. It's always India which comes with ideas from brass tacks to limited war or cold star doctrines and you dont expect pakistan to come with nothing why we pay to defence that much then? I think people sleeping on streets in Calcutta deserve food and shelter then your foot on moon US provided necessities to its population before going to moon. 1971 is a distant memory now good for us in long term.
Pakistan is the superior country that proves that its stragic policies and its defending power.......now india will be under fear and a layer of threat
@Pakistani: WRONG, "stealth" is designed into object by employing radar absorbent materials for surfaces and by limiting intersecting/reflecting surfaces that can reflect a radar pulse; such as engine air intakes, wing/body intersections and tail surface panels!
I guess you all need some basic researching about this cruise missle tech, before you let loose your comments enthusiam.
Fourth and Last: This report tells that the test was "Flight Test". Cruise Missle uses a Terrain MAP. which is updated on annual basis. Also, Terrain can involve Hills, Jungles and other hinderance...so they practice and test missle against those challenges in Flight Test.
Remember: it can be launch from GROUND BATTERY, AIR-F-16 Fighter, And sea Frigate-- so 350-500 KM rannge of pin point accuracy is very much DEADLY.
Cruise Missiles need Guidance Systems. The Guidance Systems give the missile pin point accuracy. Pakistan doesnt have this system in place. They will have to depend on GPS (US), GLOSNASS ( Russia) and Galileo (EU) to use these cruise missiles Cruise their enemy. Chinese might help them with their BNS but I doubt that. No country till date has allowed their guidance systems to be used by other countries ( who don't possess this system ), yes, they might help to test - fire your missile ( like in this case ). The access to these guidance systems are not allowed in hostile conditions. So bad luck Pakistan. You will have to make your own guidance system in place which you cannot because Pak's space agency SUPARCO is not capable of doing that. They are decades behind other major countries and also India. That is why cruise missile tech is so so complex and also very very effective. India will have her Guidance System in place by March or April 2015. INS IRNSS will be India's answer to GPS, GLOSNASS, GALILEO, etc.. 3 satellites have already been launched by India's great space agency, ISRO, 4 more to be launched in this year. Then our Cruise missiles will be able to destroy any enemy who so ever it may be. We won't require permission of other countries to use their Guidance systems. We will have our INRSS.We will use it. Then our cruise missiles like Brahmos 1, Brahmos 2, Nirbhay etc will do the rest. Pakistan is still far from mastering cruise missile tech. First ask SUPARCO to launch a baby satellite first then think about Guidance Systems. SUPARCO is decades behind our great and India's pride ISRO..
@Iqbal, 350km is not a misprint. The Raad missile has a short and a long range variant. The long range version has a 1500km range, the short range one has a 350km range. The short range version is smaller, this carries less fuel and has a smaller range. It is intended to be launched from airplanes and from smaller ships, therefore the smaller size of it. This missile gives Pak Armed forces the ability to strike targets accurately with large warheads in a battlefield scenario. Cruise missiles are also much harder to detect and can manouvre therefore targets have less time to react.
For example, if you wanted to target an aircraft carrier, a long range ballistic missile would be detected early, it's trajectory tracked and potentially the carrier moved out of it's way. it's unlikely but not impossible. With a cruise missile, you could get a warhead big enough to disable or sink a carrier, but it would be fired from a smaller vessel or aircraft which wouldn't register as a threat at 3-400km or be engaged at that range, the missile would fly a few metres above sea level, making it very hard to detect on radar or sonar, and when/if it was detected, even if you did move the target, the missile could track it and follow it.
@Ahmed Raza: despite all possessions you mentioned partially or wholly, pakistan is heading in this field against india, because it is not being supervised any shrif or zardari, rather true lovers, if these lover be allowed to lead, certainly shame the counter part
This is much more advance version then the pervious one, the military school keep the range short of the new missile now they focusing on quality and enrichment which is a positive thing
@Qayum "if only you had capability and audacity" yes the only asian country and third country in the world, to reach Mars has the capability. And you have already seen our audacity in 71. @kam while you plan your wars games and strategies to violate India's airspace. They are planing manned space mission to moon, increase India's gdp and economy from 6% to 9%. Best wishes for the path you have chosen.
Indian trolls are burning with pain from inside. :)
so many Indian comments !!
@ajeet......I guess Indians are allergic to word "Ghaznavi"
@Meghana - We don't have to worry. Given the pathetic range (350 km) of this Chinese imitation, the Pakistani army would probably use this toy against their strategic assets in FATA within its borders.
It might be short-ranged missile but is plenty enough to destroy the dreams of enemy. Well-Done Pak!
Guys this missile is aircraft launched not ground launched so an aircraft can deliver it hundreds of miles before target it might have two objectives to cover Assam and arunachal perdesh of India where no aircraft can reach or missile could reach without violating chinese airspace a safe heaven for indian nukes. Or with air refueling capability of PAF could strikes far off places..... a signal to a country other than India.
@ajeet: Haha...quite poor knowledge of Pakistan. ...
Dude the technology that you are testing now we have implemented atleast a decade ago(In Shaheen Missiles)...
If it is so easy why don't u ask ur govt to show us something like this?
Should I tell you how many MIGs have crashed in Hindustan upto now? Was it a technology blunder? No...its actually the incompetence of ur airforce...
PAF does not have the adequate launch vehicles for this type of missile. The only aircraft that can carry and launch this missile are the Mirage III & V which are nearing the end of their services lives and would be retired within the next 3 years. The F-16s would not be permitted to be mated with such an offensive weapon by the Yanks and the JF-17 are still very much in their infancy stage.
@Iqbal: It's a cruise missile not an IRBM.
@Tani: Absolutely agreed...but let me remind you of one such incident back in 1998,when Hindustan conducted Nuclear tests claiming as a response to Ghauri missiles...
Also look at the number of Indian commentators here...so that u can conclude who is having problems with Who...its just a matter of understanding. ..
The number of Indian trolls here show how much you guys are concerned about Pakistan with no good reason.. its better the intellectuals on other side of border must keep their focus on poverty, corruption, Rapes, suicide in Indian army or just the matters that directly concern them...
@Zain: best reply ever
My obsessed neighbors can't stop themselves for not commenting on any news related to Pakistan...Do you guys have anything else to do?
The missile is for defense purposes and i believe we know when to use it and where to use it. And regarding range 350km i think Delhi is not that far :P
Looking forward to comments from across the border :)...if not obsessed than don't comment :P
So many jealous Indians here :P
@Meghana:
Can't fire the firecrackers you call Agni from a wrecked launch-site, can you?
40% below poverty, Global Headquarter of Polio, Global Headquarter of Terrorism. No electricity, no petrol, population fully radicalised and still spending millions of this unusable missile. Come out of the world of 1945 war,war and war. it is 2015 and what maters is economy, education and prosperity.
@Tani: Apparently Indians want Pakistan to regulate their national affairs in accordance to Indian flexing and not make any move while India does. Laughable and ironic that you'd call anyone immature with that kind of mindset. But bigotry is too deep rooted in some people, apparently.
@Ali abbasi:
For someone who believes a missile's stealth depends on shape and color, you're pushing it if you're trying to sound like an expert. Missiles achieve stealth by altitude, trajectory and maneuver, not by color (which can be pretty much anything) or shape (all rockets are streamlined and aerodynamic).
@ajeet:
Funny an Indian with no knowledge of missile weaponry would say that keeping in mind India's shameful dependence on Russia for modern arsenal. And that too, just by looking at the photograph. Some people should stop making a fool out of themselves.
Yoo all guys need to know difference between air launched missiles and its range and a missile fired from land station before commenting ...
@Meghana:
Hahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!
Are you kidding me? You'll send several long range ballistic missiles to intercept a tactical short range cruise missile?!!!!!!
@Meghana
If your country had the capability or the audacity of doing it then it would have already would have made attempts. But then again you guys cant even keep a foreign made MiG in the air let alone a local made missile.
@Meghana
lol....If only wishes were horses.
Good work Pakistan. This is a really good achievement and we need to do more to make this missile travel longer and carry heavier war head.
Haters going to hate! :)
@Zain: There won't be any landing. Many Agni's will be on the way before that. If at all suchsituation arises.
This thing is an absolute beaut!!!!! People talking rubbish about this missile have literally no idea whatsoever.
@Pops"They forgot to paint it green"
May be you can paint it for us when it lands there ?
@ajeet And I take that you have seen all the Chinese missiles ?
As expected. India fired nuclear capable Agni 5 that can reach more than 5500km. Pakistan fires 350km missile 2days later. Usa president comes india. You go China same day. India fired rocket to Mars. You fire hatf next day. How immature. Why not do something just for you and your countrymen. Than always trying to one up india when india does something.
You fools, I think Pakistan is heading towards "Iron dome" What Pakistan will do with continental and intercontinental missiles ?
Looks like a Chinese rip-off which would have been a Russia rip-off developed during cold war days. They should have at least repainted it green and named after an Afghan invader.
That shape doesn't look stealthy at all, nor does painting it red and white add any credence to the "stealth capabilities" reported. Like most reports on the military's developments, sounds more like an ad than a factual report.
Tactical, lean and mean looks, smaller, smaller and much advance than the 5000 Km missile tested by India, don't know why they are called 'dud missile'. With the russian PSLV-C3 which India has at ISRO, they can fire the rocket that far, say 5000 km. So a tactical war head going that far and an Indian missile, actually a rocket is two different things. These smaller tactical is based on tritium tech, much advance than there counterparts. Search Intl' defense journals.
They forgot to paint it green.
Thumbs up to the scientists, your efforts will compel our adversaries to think 100times before materialising doctrines such as CSD.
"With a range of 350 kilometres"
Surely this is a misprint. With modern technology should it not be 3500 kilometers? Our neighbours have missiles which go beyond 3500 kilometers.