Babur missile
Encyclopedia
Babur (named after the first Mughal Emperor
Zahir ud-Din Babur
), also designated Hatf VII, is the first land attack cruise missile
to be developed by Pakistan
.
Launched from ground-based transporter erector launcher
s, warship
s and submarine
s, the Babur can be armed with a conventional
or nuclear warhead and has a reported range of 700 km (435 mi). The missile is designed to avoid radar
detection and penetrate enemy air defences. Serial production of the Babur started in October 2005.
according to videos of its launch. However, there is no confirmation of this and the Pakistani missile development organisation NESCOM has rejected this theory. Some members of NESCOM have stated, off the record, that Pakistan has been working on cruise missiles since 1995.
Babur is believed to have been developed in response to reports that India was planning to acquire Patriot missiles
from the US, in order to set up a ballistic missile defense system to counter Pakistan's arsenal of ballistic missiles.
at the rear along with the propulsion system. Propelled by a jet engine
(either turbofan
or turbojet), the Babur has a maximum speed of approximately 550 mph. On launch, a booster rocket provides additional thrust to accelerate the missile away from the launch vehicle. After the launch the wings unfold, the booster rocket is jettisoned and the jet engine started.
The Babur's guidance system uses a combination of inertial navigation system
s, terrain contour matching (TERCOM)
and GPS satellite guidance
. The guidance system reportedly gives the missile pinpoint accuracy.
The missile is stated to have a high degree of maneuverability, allowing it to "hug" the terrain, and "near-stealth" capabilities. Terrain hugging ability helps the missile avoid enemy radar detection by utilizing "terrain masking", giving Babur the capability to penetrate enemy air defence systems undetected and survive until reaching the target. The missile's design features can be compared with the American BGM-109 Tomahawk
cruise missile.
More advanced versions of the Babur are under development, later versions are planned to have a range of 1000 km and be capable of being launched from Pakistan Navy
submarines such as the Agosta 90B Khalid class.
(TEL). The unannounced 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 the fact that Pakistan did not notify India of its test-firing as the existing notification agreement is limited to ballistic missile testing only.
On March 22, 2007, Pakistan test-fired an upgraded version of the Babur with an extended range of 700 km. Pakistan carried out two more tests of Babur on July 26, 2007 and December 11, 2007.
On May 6, 2009, Pakistan conducted another test-firing but did not announce the event until 9 May 2009, citing political reasons.
On October 28, 2011. Pakistan successfully test fire its Babur Cruise missile has a range of 700 kilometer. The ISPR said Babur was capable of carrying conventional and atomic warheads. A special feature of today’s launch was the validation of a new multi tube Missile Launch Vehicle (MLV) during the test. The three tube MLV enhances manifold the targeting and deployment options in the conventional and nuclear modes. With its shoot-and-scoot capability, the MLV provides a major force multiplier effect for target employment and survivability.
Related developments
Similar missiles
Related lists
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
Zahir ud-Din Babur
Babur
Babur was a Muslim conqueror from Central Asia who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal dynasty of South Asia. He was a direct descendant of Timur through his father, and a descendant also of Genghis Khan through his mother...
), also designated Hatf VII, is the first land attack cruise missile
Cruise missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile that carries an explosive payload and is propelled, usually by a jet engine, towards a land-based or sea-based target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy...
to be developed by Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
Launched from ground-based transporter erector launcher
Transporter erector launcher
A transporter erector launcher is a vehicle with an integrated prime mover that can carry, elevate to firing position and launch one or more missiles. Such vehicles exist for both surface-to-air missiles and surface-to-surface missiles...
s, warship
Warship
A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
s and submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s, the Babur can be armed with a conventional
Conventional weapon
The terms conventional weapons or conventional arms generally refer to weapons that are in relatively wide use that are not weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. Conventional weapons include small arms and light weapons, sea and land mines, as well as ...
or nuclear warhead and has a reported range of 700 km (435 mi). The missile is designed to avoid radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
detection and penetrate enemy air defences. Serial production of the Babur started in October 2005.
Origins
It has been speculated that Babur is based on the BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile, after six Tomahawks crash-landed on Pakistani territory in 1998 during US airstrikes on targets in Afghanistan, and its design seems to show this influence. The propulsion system appears to approximate that of BGM-109 TomahawkBGM-109 Tomahawk
The Tomahawk is a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile. Introduced by General Dynamics in the 1970s, it was designed as a medium- to long-range, low-altitude missile that could be launched from a surface platform. It has been improved several times and, by way of corporate divestitures...
according to videos of its launch. However, there is no confirmation of this and the Pakistani missile development organisation NESCOM has rejected this theory. Some members of NESCOM have stated, off the record, that Pakistan has been working on cruise missiles since 1995.
MIM-104 Patriot
The MIM-104 Patriot is a surface-to-air missile system, the primary of its kind used by the United States Army and several allied nations. It is manufactured by the Raytheon Company of the United States. The Patriot System replaced the Nike Hercules system as the U.S. Army's primary High to Medium...
from the US, in order to set up a ballistic missile defense system to counter Pakistan's arsenal of ballistic missiles.
Design
The Babur's airframe is made up of a tubular fuselage, with a pair of folded wings attached to the middle section and the empennageEmpennage
The empennage , also known as the tail or tail assembly, of most aircraft gives stability to the aircraft, in a similar way to the feathers on an arrow...
at the rear along with the propulsion system. Propelled by a jet engine
Jet engine
A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...
(either turbofan
Turbofan
The turbofan is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used for aircraft propulsion. A turbofan combines two types of engines, the turbo portion which is a conventional gas turbine engine, and the fan, a propeller-like ducted fan...
or turbojet), the Babur has a maximum speed of approximately 550 mph. On launch, a booster rocket provides additional thrust to accelerate the missile away from the launch vehicle. After the launch the wings unfold, the booster rocket is jettisoned and the jet engine started.
The Babur's guidance system uses a combination of inertial navigation system
Inertial navigation system
An inertial navigation system is a navigation aid that uses a computer, motion sensors and rotation sensors to continuously calculate via dead reckoning the position, orientation, and velocity of a moving object without the need for external references...
s, terrain contour matching (TERCOM)
TERCOM
Terrain Contour Matching, or TERCOM, is a navigation system used primarily by cruise missiles. It uses a pre-recorded contour map of the terrain that is compared to measurements made during flight by an on-board radar altimeter. A TERCOM system considerably increases the accuracy of a missile...
and GPS satellite guidance
Global Navigation Satellite System
A satellite navigation or SAT NAV system is a system of satellites that provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning with global coverage. It allows small electronic receivers to determine their location to within a few metres using time signals transmitted along a line-of-sight by radio from...
. The guidance system reportedly gives the missile pinpoint accuracy.
The missile is stated to have a high degree of maneuverability, allowing it to "hug" the terrain, and "near-stealth" capabilities. Terrain hugging ability helps the missile avoid enemy radar detection by utilizing "terrain masking", giving Babur the capability to penetrate enemy air defence systems undetected and survive until reaching the target. The missile's design features can be compared with the American BGM-109 Tomahawk
BGM-109 Tomahawk
The Tomahawk is a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile. Introduced by General Dynamics in the 1970s, it was designed as a medium- to long-range, low-altitude missile that could be launched from a surface platform. It has been improved several times and, by way of corporate divestitures...
cruise missile.
More advanced versions of the Babur are under development, later versions are planned to have a range of 1000 km and be capable of being launched from Pakistan Navy
Pakistan Navy
The Pakistan Navy is the naval warfare/service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. Pakistan's Navy is responsible for Pakistan's coastline along the Arabian Sea and the defense of important civilian harbors and military bases...
submarines such as the Agosta 90B Khalid class.
Operational history
On August 12, 2005, Pakistan publicly announced that it had successfully test fired a nuclear-capable cruise missile with a range of 500 km. The missile was launched from a land based transporter erector launcherTransporter erector launcher
A transporter erector launcher is a vehicle with an integrated prime mover that can carry, elevate to firing position and launch one or more missiles. Such vehicles exist for both surface-to-air missiles and surface-to-surface missiles...
(TEL). The unannounced 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 the fact that Pakistan did not notify India of its test-firing as the existing notification agreement is limited to ballistic missile testing only.
On March 22, 2007, Pakistan test-fired an upgraded version of the Babur with an extended range of 700 km. Pakistan carried out two more tests of Babur on July 26, 2007 and December 11, 2007.
On May 6, 2009, Pakistan conducted another test-firing but did not announce the event until 9 May 2009, citing political reasons.
On October 28, 2011. Pakistan successfully test fire its Babur Cruise missile has a range of 700 kilometer. The ISPR said Babur was capable of carrying conventional and atomic warheads. A special feature of today’s launch was the validation of a new multi tube Missile Launch Vehicle (MLV) during the test. The three tube MLV enhances manifold the targeting and deployment options in the conventional and nuclear modes. With its shoot-and-scoot capability, the MLV provides a major force multiplier effect for target employment and survivability.
See also
- Cruise missileCruise missileA cruise missile is a guided missile that carries an explosive payload and is propelled, usually by a jet engine, towards a land-based or sea-based target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy...
Related developments
- Ra'ad ALCM (Pakistan)
Similar missiles
- BGM-109 TomahawkBGM-109 TomahawkThe Tomahawk is a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile. Introduced by General Dynamics in the 1970s, it was designed as a medium- to long-range, low-altitude missile that could be launched from a surface platform. It has been improved several times and, by way of corporate divestitures...
(US) - DH-10DH-10The DongHai 10 is a cruise missile developed in the People's Republic of China by the Third Academy by CASIC.According to Janes, the DH-10 is a second-generation land-attack cruise missile , integrated inertial navigation system, GPS, terrain contour mapping system, and digital scene-matching...
(China) - Hyunmoo IIIHyunmoo IIIHyunmoo-3 is a new cruise missile that is to be fielded with the military of Republic of Korea. It is designed by Agency for Defense Development...
(ROK) - Raduga Kh-55Raduga Kh-55The Kh-55 is a Soviet/Russian air-launched cruise missile, designed by MKB Raduga. It has a range of up to and can carry conventional or nuclear warheads...
(RUS)
Related lists
External links
- Jane's Information article on Hatf 7 (Babur)
- MissileThreat.com article - Hatf 7 and Hatf 8
- http://www.pakmilitary.net/army/arsenal/cruise_missile.html
- Pakistan fires new cruise missile, BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, 11 August 2005