Pakistan has conducted a successful test of an enhanced range version of the indigenously developed Babur cruise missile 1B, the military's media affairs wing said on Tuesday.
According to The Associated Press, the cruise missile has a range of more than 900 kilometres, twice the distance of an earlier missile of the same model.
In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that today's launch was witnessed by Strategic Plans Division Director General Lieutenant General Nadeem Zaki Manj, National Engineering and Scientific Commission Chairman Dr Raza Samar and Commander Army Strategic Force Command Lieutenant General Muhammad Ali.
Senior officers from the Strategic Plans Division, Strategic Forces, scientists and the engineers of strategic organisations were also present.
The director general of the Strategic Plans Division congratulated the scientists and engineers on "achieving excellence in the domain of cruise missile technology and expressed his full confidence that this test will further strengthen Pakistan’s strategic deterrence," the ISPR statement said.
President Dr Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Imran Khan, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman General Nadeem Raza and the services chiefs also congratulated the scientists and engineers on conducting the successful launch, the statement said.
In February, the military had successfully test-fired an earlier version of the missile with the capability to hit land and sea targets up to 450 kilometres away.
The Babur cruise missile 1A was launched from a "state of the art Multi Tube Missile Launch Vehicle", the ISPR statement had said.
