Shaheen-3 is an improvement of Pakistan’s short-range supersonic ballistic missiles. With its nuclear warhead weighing 500 kg, it can hit targets at 2.7 thousand km. The rocket was created in the early 2000s and was classified in 2015. The Shahin-3’s launcher is made by China.
The press service of the Pakistani Armed Forces reported that the tests were successfully completed. It was also noted that Pakistani President Arif Alvi, Acting Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief of Staff Nadeem Raza congratulated the army, scientists and engineers who created the rocket.
The tests came just after the country’s parliament expressed its distrust of Imran Khan. He is accused of corruption and economic mismanagement. Khan himself claims that “a conspiracy of several US-led Western foreign powers” was behind the attempt to eliminate him. Until the approval of a successor, Khan continues to act as prime minister.
“The tests took place at a very symbolic moment. This is not a coincidence. They are trying to oust Khan from power, which he accuses Washington of. There are many reasons why Americans do not like the Pakistani prime minister very much. He is eccentric and out of control. This is the Pakistani version of former US President Donald Trump. The main reason for this is that he met with Putin at the beginning of the special operations and still has not condemned him. He launched the rocket not only after the vote, but also shortly before Joe Biden’s meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Let me remind you that India is Pakistan’s archenemy. Among many other things, this is a signal to Khan’s army that he is the main guarantee of the country’s independence. Therefore, he personally congratulated them, military political scientist Valery Volkov told socialbites.ca.
In contrast, Konstantin Bogdanov, senior researcher at the Center for International Security at IMEMO RAS, does not link the tests to the political situation in Pakistan.
“While it is clear that the military in Pakistan is a special caste and they have their own perspective on how the country should develop, I will not tie them together. The third “Shaheen” isn’t the newest they’ve ever had and could potentially have. The rocket is fine, but this is not its first test,” said Bogdanov.
The expert noted that the nuclear parity between India and Pakistan has now been established and that by some estimates Pakistan has more warheads, but most of them are tactical nuclear weapons with low efficiency. At the same time, India’s missile technology is superior to Pakistan’s.
“The models that India has tested in recent years fly much farther, their technologies are more advanced. Plus, India has more diverse potential – they are developing both cruise missiles and supersonic missiles. They have submarine-launched ballistic missiles that Pakistan does not have. If we talk about the military-strategic balance as a whole, India certainly surpasses Pakistan in terms of general purpose forces. This is the origin of the originality of the Pakistani nuclear doctrine – it is, in general, an attempt to cheaply defend itself from India in the event of a possible outbreak of war. “They openly say they will use tactical nuclear weapons in the event of an Indian invasion,” said Bogdanov.
Alexei Arbatov, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, head of the IMEMO RAS Center for International Security, recalled that although the main target of Pakistani missiles is India, they can only threaten it hypothetically. “This missile also threatens Israel and us. Ballistic missiles are very difficult to hit, especially if it’s a group launch,” he said.
Arbatov added that a rather paradoxical situation has developed in relations between Russia, Pakistan, India, China and the USA.
“India’s main strategic rival is China. For Russia, China is the main strategic partner. And for China, Pakistan is a strategic ally. The USA is the main enemy of China, just as it is the main enemy of Russia. But the United States is not India’s enemy, India is Russia’s partner and even ally. The expert concluded that the modern world is much more complex than it was during the Cold War.
Political scientist Volkov believes that Pakistan today showed Moscow its readiness for cooperation in the defense industry on the backdrop of negotiations between Washington and Delhi. “The US is urging India to reduce military cooperation with Moscow and at this time the Prime Minister of Pakistan is launching a rocket. Thus, he showed that he wanted to cooperate with Russia. Such an oriental-style show,” Volkov summed up.
Source: Gazeta
