Beijing: In a novel move, Pakistan bought China’s most powerful tracking system which could help speed up the development of multi-warhead missiles by its all-time friend, the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said.

A researcher with the CAS Institute of Optics and Electronics in Chengdu, Sichuan province, namely Zheng Mengwei, has confirmed about the deal between China and Pakistan to the Hong-Kong-based South China Morning Post. The tracking system is termed as one of the most highly sophisticated, large-scale optical tracking and measurement system produced by 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.

Zheng found an excuse by not elaborating over the technology or the place where it is being used in Pakistan as it pertains to the country’s defense interests.

He, however, said that the Pakistani military recently deployed the Chinese-made system “at a firing range” to be able to put in use during testing and developing new missiles.

China becomes the first ever country which has done the export of such sensitive equipment to Pakistan, the CAS said.

The Post also commented that the unprecedented move of Pakistan is to counter India’s testing the most advanced nuclear-ready intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Agni-V which has got a range long enough to hit Beijing or Shanghai cities.

Chinese authorities declassified the crucial information about the deal of the tracking system on Wednesday.

While the single-warhead missiles of India are bigger and can cover much longer distances, Pakistan relied focusing on efforts to develop multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs), a type of missile that can carry several nuclear warheads which can be directed towards different targets, the report said.

The US Defense Intelligence Agency officially confirmed in March last year that Pakistan had in fact conducted the first test launch of its nuclear-capable Ababeel missile in January 2017, “demonstrating South Asia’s first MIRV payload”, it said.

But military experts from outside of Pakistan believe that it will take a long time for the Ababeel missile to get ready for use in battle. It is still thought to be still at an early stage of development, with the need of plenty of room for improvement.

China has time and again proved to be the biggest supplier of arms to Pakistan which included ships, submarines and fighter jets.

Pakistan gave a VIP treatment for the team that took the tracking system to Pakistan, which took at least three months to assemble, calibrate the system and then train technical staff, the CAS stated.

“The system’s performance surpassed the user’s expectations,” it said, adding that it was considerably more complex than Pakistan’s home-made systems.

The report did not go into the details of payment that was done by Pakistan for the system.

An optical system is considered to be a critical component in missile testing. It usually comes with a pair of high-performance telescopes installed with a laser ranger, high-speed camera, infrared detector and a centralized computer system that automatically captures and follows moving targets.

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