Pak test-fires first submarine cruise missile

Pakistan yesterday test-fired its first submarine-launched cruise missile, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and giving the country a credible second strike capability, the military said.

The missile was fired from an underwater mobile platform and hit its target with precise accuracy, it said in a statement.

A military spokesman confirmed to AFP the missile, with a range of 450 km (280 miles), could carry a nuclear warhead.

"Babur-3 is a sea-based variant of Ground Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM) Babur-2, which was successfully tested earlier in December, last year," the statement said.