China gives Pakistan one of the most powerful missile tracking system of the World
Shares
BEIJING - In an unprecedented deal, China has sold Pakistan a powerful tracking system which could speed up the development of multi-warhead missiles by its all-weather ally, the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said.
*‘Pair of eyes’*
Zheng Mengwei, a researcher with the CAS Institute of Optics and Electronics in Chengdu, Sichuan province, confirmed to the Hong Kong-based *South China Morning Post* that Pakistan had bought a highly sophisticated, large-scale optical tracking and measurement system from China.
“We simply gave them a pair of eyes. They can use them to look at whatever they want to see, even the Moon,” he said.
Mr. Zheng said he could not elaborate on the technology nor where in Pakistan it was being used as it involved the country’s defence interests.
He, however, said that the Pakistani military recently deployed the Chinese-made system “at a firing range” for use in testing and developing new missiles.
China was the first country to export such sensitive equipment to Pakistan, the CAS said.
The Post report attributed the sale of the equipment to Pakistan to India testing the most advanced nuclear-ready intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Agni-V with a range long enough to hit Beijing or Shanghai.
Chinese authorities declassified information about the sale of the tracking system on Wednesday.
The Chinese team which took the tracking system to Pakistan enjoyed VIP treatment during the nearly three months stay to assemble and calibrate it and training technical staff, the CAS statement said.
“The system’s performance surpassed the user’s expectations,” it said, adding that it was considerably more complex than Pakistan’s home-made systems.
