Missiles: Who gave Pakistan MIRV technology?

New Delhi, Dec 27: MIRV or Multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle technology is key to regional peace and stability, especially in the context of India-Pakistan Missile race. MIRV allows a single missile to deliver multiple warheads that can be programmed to hit different targets.

An MIRV equipped missile can deceive ballistic missile defence sheilds. It works like this, a BMD system has a radar which first tracks the incoming ballistic missile, then the computer system predicts the trajectory that the missile would follow, and based on this an interceptor is launched to meet the incoming missile mid-air. While an MIRV equipped attacking missile can have multiple warheads, interceptors have a single warhead.

If one country feels that it cannot defend against incoming missile attacks, then the next logical step would be to develop even more powerful missiles and secondary strike capabilities which can act as detterents. So MIRV technology raised the level of minmum deterrence threshold.

While the Pakistan has officially claimed that the Ababeel Missile has MIRV capability, India has remained mum on this. But, it is widely believed that Agni 5 has MIRV capability, but it is not know how many multiple warheads it can deliver. MIRV is a complex technology that only a few nations have, so how did Pakistan develop it?

Many experts believe that there could be a Chinese hand in it. China has been very forthcoming in sharing defence technology with Pakistan and Beijing does so to keep India under check.

The Pakistani military first announced its test of the MIRV-capable missile on January 24, 2017. With the 2017 test, Ababeel became the first ballistic missile in South Asia which is equipped with MIRV.

A BBC report claims that Pakistan may have developed MIRV-capable missile with the help from China, Islamabad's 'all-weather' friend. A report published in delhidefencereview.com claims that the Ababeel thermal fairing (heat shield) has a larger diameter than its core vehicle. The extra volume thus available is consistent with the requirements for MIRV capabilities.

If Ababeel is equipped with full-fledged MIRV capabilty, then it is a cause of concern for India. It is not known how advanced is Ababeel's MIRV capability or how many warheads can it actually release. The best way to stop an MIRV equipped missile is to intercept it before the warheads separate from main cone, but is extremely difficult. Once multiple warheads enter the atmosphere, then it is just too difficult to track them separately and launch interceptors to block them.