This Word Means: Abdali Weapon System

“Pakistan conducted a successful training launch of the Abdali Weapon System, a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 450 kilometers, as part of Ex INDUS. The launch was aimed at ensuring the operational readiness of troops and validating key technical parameters, including the missile’s advanced navigation system and enhanced maneuverability features,” the X handle of the Govt of Pakistan posted.

An official in Delhi, speaking to The Indian Express, called the testing a “reckless act of provocation and a dangerous escalation by Pakistan in its hostile campaign against India.”

What is the Abdali missile?

The Abdali is a ballistic missile — a missile that uses projectile motion to travel towards its target, and is powered by a rocket for only the initial, short duration of its journey.

Ballistic missiles usually have three stages of flight.

The American non-profit The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation explains it thus, “Boost Phase begins at launch and lasts until the rocket engine(s) stops firing and the missile begins unpowered flight. Depending on the missile, boost phase can last three to five minutes. Midcourse Phase begins after the rocket(s) stops firing. The missile continues to ascend toward the highest point in its trajectory, and then begins to descend toward Earth.”

The final, or Terminal Phase, is when the warhead (basically the bomb) has detached and hits the target.

The Abdali missile was first tested in 2001-02, according to Dawn. It is named after Ahmed Shah Abdali, the Afghan ruler who invaded India multiple times in the 18th century. Pakistan has a tradition of naming its missiles after Muslim rulers who invaded India. Thus, apart from Abdali, it has Ghaznavi missiles (named after Mahmud of Ghazni), the Ghauri missile (named after Muhammad Ghori), and the Babur missile, named after the first Mughal ruler Zahir ud-Din Babur.

The military drill during which this missile was tested was called Exercise Indus.

The test, conducted at the Sonmiani Ranges, was likely part of an operational user trial conducted under the Army Strategic Forces Command (ASFC), which handles Pakistan’s nuclear-capable missiles, The Indian Express reported.

India has recently suspended the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan, following the Pahalgam attack on tourists. It has also taken a range of other steps — curbing water flow through the Baglihar dam over the Chenab; stopping the import of Pakistani products; banning docking of Pakistan-owned ships and suspending the exchange of all mail and parcels.