Pakistan on April 14 conducted a successful test of new version of the Babur cruise missile. According to Pakistani Army’s ISPR, Babur Weapon System-1 (B) incorporates advanced aerodynamics and avionics that can strike targets both at land and sea with high accuracy. Equipped with the Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM) and all time Digital Scene Matching and Area Co-relation (DSMAC) technologies, which enable it to engage in various types of targets with pinpoint accuracy even in the absence of GPS navigation, thus making it an important force multiplier for Pakistan's strategic deterrence,
Name: with full of vengeance!
Babur named after the first Mughal Emperor Zahir-ud-Din Babur also designated Hatf VII, is a short range turbojet powered subsonic cruise missile that can be launched from land or mobile underwater platforms. The missile was first tested in 2005 and is widely believed to have entered service with the Pakistan Army in 2010.
Enhancement so far…..
Over the course of the missile’s lifespan, there have been a wide range of estimates and declarations as to its range. When the missile was first tested in 2005, it was announced that it had a range of 500 km. In 2012, there were claims of the Babur reaching a 700 km range. However, U.S. assessments put the current range much lower at 350 km.
“Indigenous” in which sense?
Pakistan claims to have developed the Babur in response to alleged reports that India was planning to acquire Patriot missiles from the US, in order to set up a ballistic missile defense system to counter Pakistan's arsenal of ballistic missiles.
Some analysts have pointed out similarities of the missile with Chinese and American designs, namely the DH-10 and Tomahawk.
Some Intelligence report says in a course of time that Pakistan claims that Babur was an indigenous making, is far from the reality. Reports from some important defence publications point fingers at its foreign sources. One such is the Kh-55SM/Korshun LACM, which was developed by a Ukraine-based design bureau. It was reported that Pakistan bought detailed production engineering data from Ukraine in 2001. It has also been speculated that Pakistan could have reverse-engineered BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile, after six of them fell in its territory in 2001, when US was conducting airstrikes in Afghanistan.
The United States has also accused Pakistan of illegally modifying American-made missiles to expand its capability to strike land targets, a potential threat to India. Time magazine quoted Ayesha Siddiqa, in September 1, 2009, “this is what happens in countries that are dependent on foreign technology," says Ayesha Siddiqa, a military expert and author of Pakistan's Arms Procurement and Military Buildup, 1979-99. Much of Pakistan's military modernization has come about from U.S. arms sales in the 1950s and '80s. "In Pakistan, we have not really gone beyond license production and reverse engineering." Siddiqa adds that “this is not the first time that Pakistan has been accused of reverse engineering or modification. A U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile that had strayed into Pakistani territory during strikes on al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan in August 1998 and was recovered intact by Pakistan is widely believed to have provided the basis for its Babur cruise missile.”
References:
The New York Times, Eric Schmitt And David E. Sanger, August. 29, 2009
Behind the U.S.-Pakistan Missile Spat: The Indian Threat
Time, Omar Waraich, Sept. 01, 2009