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Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, July 8: Pakistan’s next missile test is likely to be that of a Chinese M-9 equivalent. Islamabad is reported to have been in possession of the M-9s since 1992, and is readying for a test of an updated version, according to authoritative sources.
The rest of the missiles in the series, say informed sources, are simply renamed variants of Chinese and North Korean missiles. The Hatf-II designation has been given to the Chinese supplied M-11 missiles, when the Pakistani versionfailed. The performance characteristics are virtually identical, said the sources.
With the Hatf-V name having gone to the recently tested North Korean Nodong-inspired liquid-fuelled Ghauri, the Hatf-III and Hatf-IV are the missing links in Pakistan’s missile programme. Islamabad is reported to have purchased 10 Nodong/Ghauri missiles, of which one was tested last April, said the sources. “It is the identity of the Hatf-III/IV that is of great importance to us here,” said a military scientist in New Delhi.
While the initial reports of the Chinese sale of M-11s came in 1991-92, the Janes Strategic Weapons Systems had reported in 1992 that China had also supplied M-9 missiles to Pakistan. “That was the year when their indigenous Hatf-II was removed from the Pakistan Day Parade, and it is virtually certain that the Hatf-II designation has been given to those M-11s,” said a South Block source. The Hatf-III — almost certainly the M-9, according to the sources — was first mentioned publicly by Pakistan inJuly 1997, “when a cold test was conducted by SUPARCO,” said the military source. The Hatf-III was mentioned as a two-stage solid fuelled missile with a 600-km range. The parameters are of the M-9 except that it has a miniaturised propulsion system to separate and realign the warhead. “We are looking at the two-stage Hatf-III’ as that separator for the M-9 warhead” said the source.
