Babur missile Totally Explained

Everything about The Babur Missile totally explained

The Babur missile (Babar means lion in Turkic languages; it's also suggested that the missile was named after the first Mughal Emperor Babur) is the first cruise missile fielded by Pakistan. It is capable of carrying either conventional or nuclear warheads and has a reported range of 700 km (435 miles). It is reported that it can hit its target with "pinpoint accuracy" and can be fired from warships, submarines and fighter jets. It is designed to avoid radar detection and penetrate undetected through a defensive system. The cruise missile is a terrain hugging missile and it has an up-to-date navigation and guidance system, and a high degree of maneuverability. Serial production of Babur started in October 2005.

Design

In 1998, six Tomahawk cruise missiles fired at Taliban bases in Afghanistan by US destroyers mis-fired and landed in Pakistan. It is speculated that Pakistan seized upon the opportunity to reverse-engineer the Tomahawk and develop its own prototype. The propulsion system appears to approximate that of Tomahawk according to video of its launch. However, there's no confirmation of this, and the Pakistani missile development company, NESCOM has rejected this theory. Some members of NESCOM have come out saying, off the record, that Pakistan has been working on cruise missiles since 1995. Some analysts have noted that the Babur has benefited from Kh-55 technology.. Babur is believed to be extremely accurate. It is steered by an inertial navigation system (INS). INS continuously measures the movement, speed and position of the missile. It is equipped with a precision guidance system that allows the missile to hit small targets. It is powered by a cruise turbo-fan engine which enables the missile to reach an approximate speed of 880 km/h (550 miles/h). The missile's design features can be compared with the American BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile.

Operation

On August 12th, 2005, Pakistan publicly announced that it had successfully test fired a nuclear-capable Babur cruise missile. The missile was launched from a land based transporter erector launcher (TEL). With this test, Pakistan became one of twelve countries that possess cruise missile technology. Babur is part of Pakistan's Hatf missile series. The unannounced initial launch on 11 August 2005 caught much of the international community by surprise due to the technically advanced nature of the missile, as well as, according to some unreliable sources, the fact that Pakistan didn't notify India of its test-firing in accordance with the existing notification agreement, as it's limited to ballistic missile testing only.
On July 26, 2007 Pakistan reportedly tested an upgraded Babur cruise missile launched from the torpedo tubes of an Agosta 90-b submarine. Various reports also claimed that it has also been upgraded to carry on future PAF fighters such as the F-16 and JF-17. With this Pakistan now has an advanced well networked range of second strike capability that it can use in wartime. It has now been confirmed that the second version of the Babur cruise missile has the capability of being fired from submarines, in this case Pakistan's Agosta-90B, or fighter aircraft, such as Pakistan's JF-17, F-16, or A-5 Fantan.
On March 22nd, 2007, Pakistan test-fired the second version of the nuclear-capable Babur/Hatf VII nuclear-capable cruise missile with the capability to avoid radar detection and an extended range of 700km.(External Link

) On December, 11, 2007 another test of Babut cruise missile has been carried out.
In the future, a more advanced version of the Babur is planned, that will likely have more range, and will weigh considerably less than the current 1,400 kg model. Other likely upgrades might include being equipped to the J-10 jet fighter or the German U-212/U-214 submarines.

Surprise

The sudden test of the Babur missile surprised some. The United States gave a muted response. India which, though gave no official response, was criticized by its media for not knowing beforehand. Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf praised the Pakistani scientists and engineers by saying that they'd once again done the country proud by mastering a rare technology. By conducting a cruise missile test Pakistan has joined a select group of countries which have the capability to design and develop cruise missiles. Musharraf also said that Pakistan wasn't into an arms race with anyone but would never compromise on its strategy of defensive deterrence.

Designation	Other Name	Range	Payload	Status	Inventory
Hatf-I/IA (BRBM)	Hatf-I/IA	80/100 km	500 kg	Deployed	100+
Abdali (SRBM)	Hatf-II	180 km	500 kg	Deployed, Under production	Unknown
Ghaznavi (SRBM)	Hatf-III	290 km	500 kg	Deployed, Under production	~100+
Shaheen-I (MRBM)	Hatf-IV	750 km	750 kg	Deployed, Under production	~75-150
Ghauri-I (MRBM)	Hatf-V	1500 km	700-1000 kg	Deployed, Under production	~100+
Ghauri-II (MRBM)	Hatf-VA	2,400 km, More range with lighter payload.	1200 kg	Operational, Under production	~100+
Shaheen-II (IRBM)	Hatf-VI	2,500 km, More range with lighter payload.	1000+ kg	Deployed, Under production	200+
Babur (Cruise Missile)	Hatf-VII	700 km	500 kg	Deployed	400-1000
Ra'ad (Air Launched Cruise Missile)	Hatf-VIII	350 km		Tested	---
Ghauri-III (IRBM)		3,500+ km	1000+ kg	Under Development
Shaheen-III (IRBM)		3,500+ km	1000+ kg	Under Development
M-11 (SRBM)		300 km	500 kg	In service	Unknown

Note: Not every missile has nuclear payload.

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