Pakistan Tests Longest-Range Nuke-Capable Missile

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan Tuesday successfully test-fired for the first time a long-range ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads to every corner of neighboring arch rival India.


"The two-stage Shaheen II Missile System, which has been developed indigenously by Pakistani scientists and engineers, can carry all types of warheads up to 2,000 km (1,250 miles)," the Pakistan military said. Nuclear scientist Samar Mubarak Mand -- a key architect of Pakistan's atomic bomb -- said the full range of the missile was around 1,500 miles.


"We have fired it to the end of our sea limits, which is about 2,000 km," Mand said on private Geo television.


Pakistan says its weapons program is a response to that of rival India, with which it has fought three wars since both countries won independence from Britain in 1947.

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