ISLAMABAD: Pakistan successfully revalidated on Monday the design and technical parameters of Shaheen-1A (Hatf IV), a nuclear-capable intermediate range ballistic missile.

The point of impact of the missile, which can also carry conventional warheads and has a range of 900km, was somewhere in Arabian Sea.

Shaheen-1A, an improved version of Shaheen-1, was originally tested in terms of range and accuracy in April 2012 and tested again next year.

Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah; Director General Strategic Plans Division, Lt Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat; Commander of Army Strategic Forces Command, Lt Gen Obaid Ullah Khan; Commander of Pakistan Fleet, Vice Admiral Zafar Mehmood Abbasi; and Chairman of National Engineering and Scientific Commission, Muhammad Irfan Burney; witnessed the test.

Congratulating the participating scientists and engineers, the naval chief said that with its highly accurate and indigenously developed guidance system, Shaheen-1A was among the most accurate missile systems in the world.

According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations, he reiterated Pakistan’s desire for peaceful coexistence in the region.

President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif have congratulated the troops, scientists and engineers who took part in the successful test.

Published in Dawn, November 18th , 2014