Ababeel (missile)

Ababeel (Urdu: ; lit. Swallow) is a surface-to-surface medium-range ballistic missile developed by Pakistan, with a claimed maximum range of 2200 km. The missile can allegedly carry both conventional and nuclear warheads, and is claimed to use multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV), a first for Pakistan's arsenal. There has been no independent verification of Pakistan's claims with regard to this missile.

The first publicly announced "test launch" was conducted on 24 January 2017, according to a statement released by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

The press release made reference to, "the development of the Ababeel weapon system was aimed at ensuring survivability of Pakistan's ballistic missiles in the growing regional Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) environment" in reference to the Indian Prithvi and Ashwin BMD systems. Ababeel is claimed to be a development of the Shaheen-III airframe and solid-fuel motors, but with a payload fairing of enlarged diameter, "to house the MIRV carrier bus". The second stage is also lengthened.

The missile's name of 'ababeel' or "swallow" may be a reference to a pre-Islamic event during the Year of the Elephant. An army, described as the 'Owners of the Elephant' for their use of war elephants, sent an army to destroy the Kaaba. Unable to resist their numbers, the people asked for divine help. A flock of birds, or 'ababil', appeared and dropped stones upon the army, destroying them. The Ababeel missile may make reference to this on two grounds: a MIRV attack would resemble a flock of falling stones; 'Owners of the Elephant' may also suggest the Indian targets of this missile.

US Air Force's National Air and Space Intelligence Center estimates that as of June 2017 no missiles were operationally deployed.