Shaheen-II / Eagle-I / Hatf-6 / Ghaznavi
Shaheen-II is Pakistanís longest range ballistic missile system with a range of 2000 Km. It is a two stage solid fuel missile which can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads. Army Strategic Force Command includes Hatf-II (Abdali), Hatf-III (Ghaznavi), Hatf-IV (Shaheen-1), Hatf-V(Ghauri), Hatf-VI (Shaheen-6), Babar Cruise Missile and Raad Missile.
In an interview with an English daily in Islamabad, the director General of the National Development Complex [and a member of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission - PAEC] Dr. Samar Mubarik Mund said work is in progress on the long range Shaheen-II (Eagle) which can travel 2000 kilometers. He said the missile would be ready for testing by the end of 1998, though in fact as of early 2000 no such test had taken place.
A pair of Shaheen-II ballistic missiles were displayed during the Pakistan Day parade in Islamabad on 23 March 2000. One of the missiles was carried on a 12-wheel Transporter Erector Launcher, while the other missile was carried on a Missile Transporter. These vehicles, based on a common chassis, are evidently significantly larger than the 8-wheel launcher used by the Shaheen-I, though they use a similar cab.
During the parade, it was claimed that the Shaheen-II surface-to-surface missile had a range of 2,000 kilometers [over 1,400 miles]. Other reports attribute a range of up to 2,500 kilometers. US National Air and Space Intelligence Center has several times set the Shaheen-2ís range at 2,000?km (1,243 miles), but after the November 2014 test the Pakistani government reported the range as only 1,500km (930 miles).
In December 2000 Dawn reported that the Shaheen-II was a two-stage, solid-fuel missile capable of carrying a warhead of 1,000 kg to 2,500 kg with a range of 600 km. The missile was said to be 12 meters in length, one meter in diameter, with a 200 m circular error of probable (CEP). These reported dimensions are consistent with the Shaheen-I, but not the Shaheen-II.
In February 2001 the Pakistani newspaper Jang reporred that Pakistan had increased the range of its Shaheen-II missile from 2,500 km to 3,500 km. According to this report, the Shaheen-II missile is 19 m. (63 feet) long and has a diameter of 1.5 meters.
The Shaheen-II is evidently a Pakistani version of the Chinese M-18, which was originally shown at the 1987 Beijing air show as a two-stage missile with 1000 kms range carrying a 400-500 kilogram payload. This M-18 missile had the longest range of any of the current M-series missiles.
The Shaheen series of missiles are evidently based imported from China by the PAEC's National Development Complex. The Shaheen, which was tested with considerable publicity on 15 April 1999, is evidently the Chinese M-11 which Pakistan purchased in the early 1990s. The Shaheen-II would appear to represent the Chinese M-18, although it is questionable whether Pakistan has actually obtained these missiles from China. There was no indication that China had transferred such missiles to Pakistan.
- On 05 February 2004 Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf said Pakistan had made Shaheen-II missile, having a range of two thousand kilometers, that will be tested in a month`s time. On 09 March 2004 Pakistan test-fired the nuclear-capable Shaheen-2 ballistic missile. At that time, National Engineering and Science Commission Chairman Samar Mubarakmand was quoted as saying that the missile was is a two-stage rocket weighing 25 tons with a diameter of 1.4 meters and a length of 17.5 meters, and a range of 2,500 kilometers.
- On 19 March 2005 Pakistan successfully test-fired its longest-range, nuclear-capable missile. The Shaheen II missile successfully hit the target at a range of 2,000 km. President General Pervez Musharraf witnessed the test and congratulated the scientists and engineers for developing the missile. This missile which incorporates an advanced two-stage solid motor technology, can carry all types of conventional and nuclear warheads. On April 21, 2008 Pakistan successfully conducted the first training launch of Long Range Ballistic Missile Hatf VI (Shaheen-II) Weapon System. The launch was conducted by the Army Strategic Force Command and marked the culmination of a field training exercise. It validated the operational readiness of a strategic missile group equipped with Shaheen-II missile.
- Pakistan conducted a successful test of the Shaheen-II (Hatf-VI) ballistic missile 13 November 2014, capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads to a range of over 900 miles. The launch was the conclusion of an exercise by Pakistan's Army Strategic Forces Command, aimed at ensuring the operational readiness of the national Strategic Missile Group, Geo TV reported citing ISPR.
Pakistan has announced that development efforts are underway on a longer-range missile, designated the Ghaznavi, although no details of this system's proposed characteristics have been made public.
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