Pakistan tests its first cruise missile

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan tested its first nuclear-capable, ground-launched cruise missile yesterday without informing rival India in advance, a Pakistani military spokesman said.

The indigenously produced Babur missile, which has a range of 500km, was successfully tested, said the spokesman, Major-General Shaukat Sultan.

Nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India reached an agreement last week to inform each other about missile tests but Sultan said India was not told about Thursday's test as the accord did not cover the Babur missile.

"We don't have to inform neighbouring countries in this case. It is not a ballistic missile and it doesn't fall under the agreement," he said.

The Babur is a terrain-hugging missile that can avoid radar detection and strike with pinpoint accuracy, the military said.

"By conducting the successful test, Pakistan has joined a select group of countries which have the capability to design and develop cruise missiles," the military said in a statement.

Pakistan and India tested nuclear weapons in 1998.

President Pervez Musharraf hailed the test as a milestone in Pakistan's quest to strengthen and consolidate its strategic capability and said it improved the military balance with India.

Pakistan's ambitions to develop cruise missile capabilities has been known for several years, said Robert Karniol, Asia-Pacific editor for Jane's Defence Weekly.

While the Babur's payload capacity -- and the weight of Pakistan's nuclear weapons -- were not known, cruise missiles would be a significant boost to Pakistan's arsenal, he said.

"These kinds of capabilities, particularly the submarine-launched missile, are very significant strike weapons," he said.

"We can expect that some time in the future they will turn their attention to developing a submarine-launched system." Pakistan has eight submarines in operation, including two Agosta 90-B craft built with French help, a navy spokesman said.

India already has submarine-launched cruise missiles.

Musharraf said the Babur, with its 500km range, was superior to the Indian Brahmos cruise missile, which has a range of 290km.

Pakistan would maintain a military balance with India, in both the conventional and unconventional fields, even if India acquired high-technology US weapons such as the Patriot missile system, he said.

- REUTERS