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China helps Pakistani missile program by providing advanced tracking system – report

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China helps Pakistani missile program by providing advanced tracking system – report
Published time: 22 Mar, 2018 16:16
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© Faisal Mahmood / Reuters
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China has reportedly provided Pakistan with a highly advanced optical tracking system, which will be a boon to its missile program. The move is an apparent poke in the eye of India, which is becoming China’s main regional rival.
The delivery of the system was reported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in a statement, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Thursday. It was a rare occasion for Beijing to publicly confirm the export of sensitive military equipment that may stir controversy in other nations. The deal, the statement said, was the first of its kind supplied by China to a foreign buyer.

The system, which was installed by Chinese specialists at an unnamed Pakistani military testing range, is a valuable tool for testing missile technology. It has four high-resolution high-speed cameras equipped with powerful optics, a laser ranger, and an automatic control system allowing it to track a target of interest. The cameras were installed in different locations and are synchronized with atomic clocks so that footage captured by them could be timed precisely against each other.

China provides tracking system for Pakistan’s missile programme https://t.co/IZCXQho0Qj

— SCMP News (@SCMP_News) March 22, 2018
The device can be used to study in detail crucial moments of a missile deployment like the launch process, stage separation, or a warhead engaging its target. According to the statement, the Chinese tracking system is far superior to those Pakistan has managed to develop domestically, and its performance“surpassed the user’s expectations.”

“We simply gave them a pair of eyes. They can use them to look at whatever they want to see, even the Moon,” told SCMP Zheng Mengwei, a researcher with the CAS Institute of Optics and Electronics in Chengdu, Sichuan province, which was involved in the development of the system.

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The delivery’s public disclosure may be Beijing’s way to send a message to Pakistan’s main enemy, India. Islamabad and New Delhi have been at each other’s throats for decades and have had four major wars and numerous skirmishes since the partitioning of British India in 1947. Both countries have developed nuclear weapons and are working hard on improving the delivery systems for their warheads.

For China, Pakistan is a key component in the planned massive trade infrastructure development dubbed One Belt One Road. Beijing has invested over $60 billion into Pakistani roads and port facilities under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project. The corridor gives access to Chinese goods to Bay of Bengal and shorter maritime routes to Africa and West Asia.

India, a rising power in Asia, has a long history of competition with China that occasionally flares up. One such incident happened last year over a small, disputed piece of land in an area where both nations border Bhutan. Another happened just last month as the two nations fought for influence over Maldives in the Indian Ocean, though the fight only took place on the diplomatic field.

Some observers say India may be targeted by the US in an attempt to undermine China’s growing power, especially as the risk of an open trade war between Washington and Beijing grows stronger under the Trump administration.

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highly advanced optical tracking system is not offensive weapon, certainly not like P-8 that US sold to India to track our submarines in Indian Ocean. This is the peaceful tool that we provide to Pakistan to enhance their rocket science. If India want we're willing to exchange it with Indian's P8 if that can appease Indian mind.
 
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CHINA SOLD ADVANCED MISSILE TECH TO PAKISTAN, FUELING ASIAN ARMS RACE
BY DAVID BRENNAN ON 3/22/18 AT 9:03 AM
China has admitted it sold advanced missile technology to Pakistan, fueling the ballistic missile arms race developing between the Islamic republic and its arch-rivals India.

The “highly sophisticated large-scale optical tracking and measurement system” will improve Pakistan’s development of its multi-warhead ballistic missiles, the South China Morning Post reported, and put further strategic pressure on an Indian military facing major rivals on both the north and western borders.

The deal has emerged two months after India successfully tested its Agni V nuclear-capable ballistic missile. The missile has a reported range of 5,000 miles, putting Beijing and Shanghai within its reach.

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A Shaheen-II ballistic missile takes off during a test flight from an undisclosed location in Pakistan April 21, 2008.REUTERS/STRINGER

The deal for the optical tracking and measurement system was announced by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The cutting-edge system captures and follows moving targets, recording high-resolution images and collecting detailed data on the trajectory and behaviour of missiles and warheads being tested.

The Post reported that a Chinese team spent three months in Pakistan calibrating the syste, training Pakistani personnel on its use. The performance of the system “surpassed the user's expectations,” and far outstripped the capability of Pakistan’s existing technology, the CAS said.

Access to such technology will help Pakistan close the gap on its cross-border nuclear rival. The country has been developing multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs), which are missiles carrying multiple nuclear warheads aimed at several different targets. In January 2017, Pakistan conducted the first test of its Ababeel MIRV missile, which the U.S. Defence Intelligence Agency said was “South Asia’s first MIRV payload.”

Although India’s single-warhead nuclear missiles are bigger and can go further, an MIRV strike would allow Pakistan to hit hard with a minimal number of missiles. In response to the threat, India is working on missile defense systems that underwent several successful tests in 2017.

Formed out of British India, India and Pakistan have gone to war four times since they became independent nations in 1947. In between these conflicts, near-constant and deadly border skirmishes have continued.

India and Pakistan conducted their first nuclear weapon tests within one day of each other in May 1998. Since then, they have tried to keep pace with one another’s missile and nuclear programs.

China and India also view each other as regional rivals and have clashed over the Himalayan border that separates the two countries. With the U.S. taking a harder line on Pakistan under President Donald Trump, China has stepped in to provide military guidance and put pressure on India’s western border.

China has sold Pakistan a wide variety of conventional weapons, including warships, fighters, short-range missiles, submarines and surveillance drones, the Post said. In 2017, for example, Pakistan deployed $373 million worth of Chinese-made anti-air missile systems to guard against Indian warplanes.
pakistan-line-control-kashmir.jpg

A Pakistani soldier stands guard at the Line of Control, that divides the disputed state of Kashmir between India and Pakistan, on January 14, 2004.

http://www.newsweek.com/china-sold-advanced-missile-tech-pakistan-fueling-asian-arms-race-856897
 
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