Shaheen-II MIRV version ... "Ababeel" ... ???
@The Deterrent
Indeed. Congratulations to all Pakistanis.
Along-with introducing the second-strike capability, Pakistan has declared active development of massive first-strike capability, thus ensuring Full-spectrum deterrence. The Indo/Pak arms race just got a new angle.
Tidbits:
1. As evident from the released photo, the missile is based on the previously well-established line of Ballistic missiles i.e Shaheen-II/III.
2. An extra stage has been added, presumably giving the ability to inject RVs in their independent trajectories.
3. The payload fairing has been made larger and wider, to accommodate the MIRV-bus and up to 3 MIRVs.
4. The stated range is highly variable, depending on the number of RVs in the payload. However, the maximum range of this system will not exceed the limit set by Pakistan.
5. The decrease in range is because of the additional mass of MIRVs and third stage.
6. The nomenclature comes from the historic Islamic (Abrahmic) event, when the Abyssinians intended to invade and destroy Ka'abah, using elephants. Allah then sent thousands of 'Ababeels' (swallows/larks), each with 3 stones (one in beak, two in each claw) to kill the elephants.