Incremental upgrades in Pakistani Nuclear missiles over the years

[WaLeEdK2]

Speed mentioned is the Re-entry speed which happens at 60 Km altitude and then Warhead decelerates due to air friction.
In shaheen-3 the Warhead size has been reduced by 40% compared to Shaheen-2 , hence lower surface area,lower Radar signature, Lower air friction and lesser deceleration after re-entry.
The Re-entry speed of 22260 Km/h was mentioned by SPD official at recent IDEAS Exhibition. You can do the maths.

@The Deterrent very interesting. Your thoughts?

 

[Dalit]

An impregnable deterrence. Enough said.

Goes to show how sophisticated our missile systems have become over the years. It also documents what a vast array of capabilities we possess. Our scientists have put their blood and sweat into these capabilities. Matured them day and night. We are unable to compliment and appreciate the monumental sacrifice and efforts our scientists. Words just won't cut it. What we are seeing here is the absolute backbone of our security. Our insurance and jugular vain. Our enemies wither by seeing these capabilities. We are very lucky to have such amazingly talented and smart people.

With the recent SLCM launch Pakistan has entered a new era. We can expect the same cycle of enhancement throughout the years for our sea based capabilities. Our scientists will add a vast array of new sea based capabilities to the delivery arsenal. Something that we will cherish and our enemies loath in fear. Those that question our resolve and capabilities just need to have a look at this achievement.

 

[Safriz]

Pakistan's Raad cruise missile in true Terrain hugging mode.

 

[The SC]

The most important milestone was the miniaturization of the Nuclear warheads to fit them on the missiles, and then the sophistication of the missiles a.k.a the delivery vehicles..

 

[Dalit]

The most important milestone was the miniaturization oof the Nuclear warheads to fit them on the missiles, and then the sophistication of the missiles a.k.a the delivery vehicles..

The Western world has long questioned and doubted that Pakistan would be able achieve such a feat i.e. miniaturization of warhead. They deemed it too complex. LOL Today, it is for everyone to witness. Pakistan belongs in a different league now. Pakistan is testing sub launched missiles today. We have come a long long way.

No doubt our scientists have also worked on MIRVs which would be the next logical step.

 

[Safriz]

Another sector where Pakistan has improved leaps and bounds is the TEL or transporter erector launcher.

This was Ghauri TEL shown in IDEAS 2006

It was just a Mercedes truck towing a trailer on which Ghauri was mounted. There were separate vehicles for crew accommodation and command communication,making it a whole convoy.
There wasn't much ground clearance and not many axles to distribute weight . The arrangement was not offload capable.


Then this is the Shaheen-2 TEL.
first attempt had no Onboard crew accommodation.

Then came the final version.
Six axles distributing wight over larger area. Three steerable powered axles. Onboard crew accommodation (doors visible).Making the Pakistani nuclear arsenal truly mobile,not just road mobile but off road mobile too.

Likewise all Pakistani missiles are now on highly evolved and off road mobile TELs. making them even capable of a second strike as if India launches a first strike it wont be on deserts and hills but in built up areas. But these TELs can remain hidden far from main roads and population,and launch a second strike .

Finally a video compilation of TEL launches. It is important to test both the missile and launch platform together for truly reliable system. You don't see much evidence of that happening in the tests of our eastern neighbors.

 

[Khafee]

Speed mentioned is the Re-entry speed which happens at 60 Km altitude and then Warhead decelerates due to air friction.
In shaheen-3 the Warhead size has been reduced by 40% compared to Shaheen-2 , hence lower surface area,lower Radar signature, Lower air friction and lesser deceleration after re-entry.
The Re-entry speed of 22260 Km/h was mentioned by SPD official at recent IDEAS Exhibition. You can do the maths.

@Oscar Sir, is this true?

I can tell you that each of these missile systems has undergone far more modifications, minor and major changes, fixes in hardware and bug fixes and in addition to the numerous design iterations. I won't be able to share the whole details but I can promise you that your scientists are working and often over time and when I talk over times, means many sleepless nights but their passion does not die even when they face problems and even failures. Just the design and testing of a wing takes a lot of time and effort, a constant loop of iteration between aerodynamics, structural design and GNC teams, once they get through comes the team with radars and communication and then they demand certain iterations.. even though the best concepts of current engineering and configuration management are applied. Each and every component gets tested and some of the components are extremely expensive because we are talking about milspec grades of special materials..so QA and QC guys are there...basically testing and evaluation and QAC guys apparently look like villains..but actually they all work together to deliver the nation a system that works and works the first time. I just wrote these few lines so you guys can appreciate the amount of effort goes into these system because all this effort is hidden from your eyes and most of you may never be able to see that in your entire life time but when you see the product just remember these lines. Because when a soldier gets shaheed everybody knows but a lot scientists and engineers even lay their lives during some tests but it never gets shared with the outside world.

Absolutely. You are 100% right.

 

[Safriz]

This video actually shows Pakistan's Nasr battlefield range missile actually hitting the target. The only such video.
The whole missile body can be seen coming down on the target flag vertically,showing the maneuverability and accuracy of the system. The missile uses front maneuverable fins for steering and here it can be seen dropping vertically or it has changed from parabolic ballistic path to near vertical,in other words Quasi ballistic path.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=783597951752391

 

[war&peace]

@Oscar Sir, is this true?

Sir the number seems to be right because this is just mechanics at play i.e. ballistics. Shaheen III reaches an altitude of 650-700 km and then travels at very high speed towards its destination and once is few hundred kilometres it starts the descent and accelerates under the influence of gravity and at re-entry is at 22,250 km/h which is seems to be right for this trajectory as space shuttle which returns from 800-1000 km of parking orbital has a speed of around 25000 km/h... that's ICBMs have even higher speeds than IRBMs or MRBMs

 

[Safriz]

Evolution os pakistan's Nasr missile.
It was tested over the years with different tube and loading configurations as shown in this video.
Until the final and deployed version with 4 tubes.
You don't need to do all that if it was "Imported from china"

 

[Windjammer]

This concept of the Babur is also very interesting.

 

[Safriz]

evolution of Babur Cruise missile launcher from single rail launcher to totally enclosed three missile launcher.

 

[Khafee]

evolution of Babur Cruise missile launcher from single rail launcher to totally enclosed three missile launcher.

Single Launcher was never going to be deployed, it was a tech demonstrator.

 

[Safriz]

A visual comparison of shaheen-2 and shaheen3 which is an incremental upgrade of the formal.

 

[The Deterrent]

@The Deterrent very interesting. Your thoughts?

Very good observations, mostly correct. Tracking is not really an issue, I'm sure the S-400/500 can track ICBM class re-entry vehicles. However intercepting them is a different story.

Broadly speaking, Pakistan's missile program can be divided into three phases:

Phase-I:
The initial experimental phase in the 1980s, when Pakistan tried to establish a line of solid-fueled rockets, but was met with many failures ultimately abandoning these projects. The systems that were developed include:
1. Hatf-I TBM
2. Hatf-II TBM

Phase-II:
Established on existing systems from diverse backgrounds, with quite a bit of indigenous efforts.
1. Ghaznavi TBM (licensed DF-11)
2. Shaheen-I SRBM (improved DF-11A)
3. Ghauri MRBM (licensed Nodong)
4. Shaheen-II MRBM (based on technologies from Shaheen-I, with Chinese inputs)
5. Babur-I GLCM (reverse-engineered Tomahawk)
6. Raad-I ALCM (based on Babur-I)

Phase-III:
Upgraded systems from Phase-II, utilizing local R&D. These will form the front-line of Pakistan's nuclear delivery options in the future. Key thing to note is that Pakistan is streamlining its systems with respect to warheads, avionics and propulsion.
1. Nasr TBM
2. Shaheen-IA SRBM (improved Shaheen-I [better fuel, advanced avionics, miniaturized warhead])
3. Shaheen-III MRBM (improved Shaheen-II [better fuel, advanced avionics, miniaturized warhead])
4. Babur-II GLCM (improved Babur-I [more fuel, advanced avionics])
5. Babur-III SLCM (submarine launched variant of Babur-II)
6. Raad-II ALCM (in development)
7. MIRVed System (in development)