A day after India launched its Agni-III missile, Pakistan test-fired the nuclear-capable Hatf-VIII air-launched cruise missile, which has a range of 350 kilometers.
Islamabad, May 8 : A day after India launched its Agni-III missile, Pakistan test-fired the nuclear-capable Hatf-VIII air-launched cruise missile, which has a range of 350 kilometers.
A Pakistan military spokesperson said that the Hatf-VIII or Raad Missile would enhance the country's capability to strike at targets on land and at sea.
The test was a part of a 'continuing process of validating the design parameters of the country's weapons system', he added.
Describing the launch as successful, he added that the indigenously developed missile had 'special stealth capabilities'.
The Raad which means 'Thunder' in Arabic was a low-altitude and terrain following missile with high manoeuvrability, and could deliver all types of warheads with great accuracy.
The Raad, exclusively developed for launch from aerial platforms, 'has enabled Pakistan to achieve a greater strategic stand-off capability on land and at sea. Such complex cruise missile technology has been developed by only a few countries of the world, he claimed.
In a message, President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani congratulated the scientists and engineers on successful test.
The Raad was tested for the first time in August last year. Officials earlier said that the missile had a very low probability of detection due to its stealth design and the materials used in its construction.
Pakistan has conducted a series of missile tests in the past few months.
ANI