By Xinhua
Islamabad : Pakistan Saturday successfully test fired a new cruise missile with a range of 350 km, a statement of the Inter-Services Public Relations said.
Named “Raad” or “thunder”, the missile is a Hatf-8 type Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM), it said.
As an indigenously developed cruise missile, Raad has been designed exclusively for launch from a variety of air platforms, providing these with a strategic stand off capability on land and at sea, according to the statement.
It has low detection probability due to its stealth design and materials used in its manufacturing. Raad can carry all kinds of warheads and has an accuracy comparable to Pakistan’s Babur cruise missiles which have a longer range.
President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz have congratulated the scientists and engineers involved in the development of the new national strategic capability, the statement said.