Ghauri (missile)

The Ghauri, also designated Hatf 5, is a Pakistani medium-range ballistic missile. It is a road-mobile, single-stage, liquid-fueled weapon about 15.9 meters long and 1.35 meters in diameter, with a launch weight of roughly 15,850 kilograms. According to the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, it can carry a warhead of 700 kilograms or more over a range of 1,250 to 1,500 kilometers, and the warhead types reported include a nuclear device of 12 to 35 kilotons, high explosive, submunitions and chemical agents. Its range and nuclear capability let it hold targets deep inside India at risk, which makes it a core part of Pakistan's strategic missile forces. The missile is nearly identical in appearance to the North Korean Nodong 1, and the same source ties it to documented missile cooperation between Pakistan and North Korea in the 1980s and 1990s, with Chinese help suspected for its guidance system. The first flight test took place in 1998 and the missile entered service in 2003. A longer-ranged variant, the Ghauri 2 or Hatf 5A, replaces the heavier steel construction with aluminum alloy and uses improved propellants. Like most Pakistani missiles it is launched from modified Scud-B transporter-erector-launchers, whose mobility makes it harder to locate, while its liquid fuel lengthens launch preparation and complicates storage.