SOURCE: AFI
The Pakistan Navy recently conducted a test launch of a new ship-based ballistic missile, reportedly designated as SMASH, with a range of 350 kilometers. This missile is believed to be a Chinese import based on the CM-401 Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile (ASBM) design, according to assessments by IDRW.org and Indian Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) networks. This test highlights Pakistan’s strategy of leveraging Chinese technology to enhance its maritime strike capabilities against larger naval targets.
The SMASH missile, internally referred to as P-282, shares remarkable similarities with the Chinese-developed CM-401 ASBM. Originally designed by China to engage large and medium-sized ships, fleets, and harbor-based targets, the CM-401 represents a formidable addition to modern naval arsenals due to its advanced trajectory and striking power. Pakistan’s acquisition of this ASBM variant enables it to target high-value naval assets with precision and formidable speed.
The CM-401—and by extension, the SMASH missile—is known for a number of distinctive features:
- Near-Space Trajectory: The missile follows a semi-ballistic trajectory, reaching near-space altitudes before descending towards its target, making it harder to intercept.
- Supersonic Maneuverability: Throughout its flight, the missile travels at supersonic speeds, utilizing maneuverable paths that make it difficult to track and intercept.
- Terminal-Dive and Top-Attack Capabilities: The missile’s final approach includes a steep terminal dive, allowing it to perform a top-attack on the target, a method effective against the less-armored upper sections of ships.
- Adaptive Launch Platforms: The missile is designed to be compatible with multiple launch platforms, granting it operational flexibility.
- Multi-Trajectory Coordination: The missile can coordinate multiple trajectories to improve its penetration of defensive layers around its target.
These capabilities make SMASH well-suited for penetrating modern naval defenses, which tend to be optimized for intercepting more predictable, lower-speed, and non-maneuverable missiles.
The SMASH missile’s design closely resembles another recent addition to Pakistan’s missile inventory, the Fatah-II Close-Range Ballistic Missile (CRBM), inducted in May 2024. The Fatah-II’s airframe bears a striking resemblance to the P-282, reinforcing the likelihood of a shared design lineage with the Chinese CM-401 and potentially indicating standardized components across Pakistan’s new missile platforms.
China’s evident role in supplying the CM-401 ASBM technology, repurposed as Pakistan’s SMASH missile, reflects the deepening defense partnership between the two countries. China’s military exports to Pakistan are an essential component of its foreign policy, enabling Pakistan to rapidly expand its capabilities without the need for prolonged development cycles.
China, through its CM-401 design, provides Pakistan with an operational template that includes ready-made stealth, speed, and high-precision capabilities, which otherwise would take Pakistan years to indigenously develop. Such collaboration is part of China’s broader objective to counterbalance regional adversaries and project its influence through proxy support.
The SMASH missile, an apparent Chinese-designed ASBM modeled after the CM-401, elevates Pakistan’s ability to engage high-value maritime targets with precision, speed, and resilience against interception. As Pakistan continues to incorporate advanced Chinese-origin systems, the regional balance of naval power and deterrence dynamics will undoubtedly be affected. India, in particular, may need to accelerate its development and deployment of advanced naval and missile defense systems to counter this growing ASBM threat from Pakistan.