Posted on 01/25/2008 3:47:28 AM PST by sukhoi-30mki
Pakistan test fires medium-range ballistic missile-2
12:28 | 25/ 01/ 2008
(Adds commentary by Pakistan's army chief in paras 5-8)
ISLAMABAD, January 25 (RIA Novosti) - Pakistan conducted on Friday a successful test launch of a medium-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile, national media said, citing military sources.
The high-precision Shaheen-1 missile has a range of up to 700 kilometers (about 440 miles). It is a railroad platform-based mobile variant of the Pakistani Hatf-IV ballistic missile.
The launch, under a state program set up in 2005, was the first ballistic missile test since the beginning of this year.
Last year, Pakistan test-fired a new version of its long-range nuclear-capable missile, the Shaheen II (Hatf VI), which has a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,245 miles), and the short-range Abdali (Hatf II) missile with a range of 180 kilometers (112 miles).
Following the successful test of the missile, Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who recently replaced President Pervez Musharraf as the country's top military commander, said that the country was not threatening other states by modernizing its nuclear arsenal.
"Pakistan's nuclear capability is solely for the purpose of deterring all types of aggression," Kayani said.
He also dismissed comments by Western media that the country's nuclear weapons could end up in the hands of terrorists due to the current volatile political situation in Pakistan.
"The Pakistani armed forces are a highly professional, motivated and well-trained force and are capable of safeguarding and securing nuclear assets against all categories of threat," the army chief said.
According to some sources, the Shaheen series of solid-propellant missiles are domestically- improved versions of imports from China, and produced by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, which is also responsible for Pakistan's plutonium bomb program.
Pakistan and its longstanding rival, India, which have fought three wars in the past half-century, have routinely carried out tit-for-tat missile tests. In 1998, they both conducted underground nuclear tests.
Two of the wars fought between India and Pakistan have been over Kashmir, the mountainous region disputed by the two neighbors since the partition of the subcontinent in 1947.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20080122/97523937.html
Pakistan starts mass production of JF-17 fighters - national TV 15:20 | 22/ 01/ 2008
ISLAMABAD, January 22 (RIA Novosti) - Pakistan began on Tuesday the mass assembly of a JF-17 fighter at an aircraft-manufacturing plant in the northwest of the country, national television reported.
The JF-17 Thunder, also known as the FC-1 Fierce Dragon in China, is a single-seat multirole fighter aircraft developed by China and Pakistan. About 50% of the on-board equipment and avionics for the fighter will be manufactured in Pakistan at the Kamra plant, while the rest of the assembly parts are to come from China.
Pakistani Air Force Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed, said last year that 15 aircraft would be manufactured in 2008, and a further 20 next year, with an ultimate goal of achieving the capability to manufacture 25 to 30 aircraft per year.
Pakistan has announced that it could procure 150-300 aircraft to meet the tactical and strategic needs of its Air Force and to replace the Chengdu F-7P fighters in current service.
Beijing delivered two $20-mln JF-17 fighters equipped with Russian-made RD-93 engines to Pakistan in March 2007, prompting Indian protests. India claimed the deal was a violation of the end-user agreement between Russia and China.
For themselves of North Korea?
It’s a Chinese missile with a green paintjob-all of Pakistan’s early missiles were Chinese.The newer,long range ones are North Korean.
Between the Russians, Indians, Chinese, Pakistanis and Iranians, there is certain to be a war over there.
They are all arming like mad, none of them can afford it except the Chinese, and the Russians are selling anything to anyone with hard cash.
Great.
Glad to see all our billions of aid to fight the WOT being put to good use, building conventional weapons to fight India or China.
IF you are referring to the Pakis-they are not building up to fight the Chicoms-they are buying up from the Chicoms.
Barring this sale of engines to Pakistan,the Russians don’t sell anything of consequence to the Pakis.Unlike the US.
Yes, I know they are close allies-now.
Ofcourse, their primary foe is India.
They have been close allies for close to 50 years & that alliance is undergoing a transformation.In addition to joint production of several weapon systems(tanks,missiles,aircraft),the Pakistanis are looking at building a corridor from the new port of Gwadar through Pakistan’s northern areas upto China.Very secure means to deliver Iranian gas to the PRC.
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