ISLAMABAD, October 14 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - After warning it would counter rival India's new purchase of a sophisticated early warning radar system from Israel, Pakistan test-fired Tuesday, October 14, its nuclear-capable missile, for the third time in 11 days.

"Pakistan today carried out another successful test-fire of its indigenously developed medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile Hatf IV/Shaheen 1," a military statement announced.

The Shaheen 1, which was also tested last Wednesday, can carry any type of warhead up to 700 kilometers (434 miles), which means it could send a nuclear payload deep into nuclear neighbor India, reported according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Tuesday's test was conducted as a follow-up to last week's Shaheen 1 test "to validate certain additional parameters," the military statement said.

It added that the series of three tests which began October 3 were complete "for now," foreshadowing future longer-range missile tests.

This month's three tests "reflect Pakistan's resolve and determination to continue to consolidate its minimum deterrence needs and national security," according to the statement.

They coincide with India's formalization of a deal with Israel to buy the billion-dollar Phalcon airborne early warning radar surveillance system, signed Friday.

Pakistan believes the airborne warning and control system (AWACS), which will be mounted on Russian IL-76 aircraft, will enable India to watch every plane and missile take off in Pakistan.

Islamabad has expressed alarm over the Phalcon purchase and warned it would trigger an arms race on the subcontinent.

President Pervez Musharraf told Malaysia's New Straits Times newspaper that Islamabad would "counter" India's acquisition of the Phalcon system.

"They have reached an agreement and we will counter it. That has to be very clear," he said in comments picked up in Pakistani newspapers Tuesday.

After India signed the deal, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri warned that Islamabad would "exploit all our resources to maintain this balance."

The latest three tests are the first since peace moves between Pakistan and India began in April.

Efforts to mend ties have stalled since ambassadors were restored and a cross-border bus service was revived.

Analysts linked the test series to Pakistani frustration at India's arms acquisitions.

"Given the conventional imbalance between India and Pakistan, you need to invest in ballistic missile capability, and with nuclear weapons we need to develop our capabilities," Ayesha Siddiqa, the Islamabad-based correspondent of Jane's Defense Weekly, told AFP.

Pakistan and India went public as nuclear powers in May 1998 when they both conducted tit-for-tat nuclear tests.

They have fought three wars since Pakistan's creation in 1947 and last year were on the brink of a fourth war which many feared would turn into the world's first nuclear conflict.

Pakistan is estimated to have 30 to 50 nuclear warheads, according to the Center for Non-Proliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in the United States, a fraction of India's estimated arsenal.

This is a chronology of the missile race between Pakistan and India, carried out against a background of tensions over the disputed Himalayan state of Kashmir and a history of three wars in 1947, 1965 and 1971, according to AFP.

In 1998…

Pakistan launched the first version of a surface-to-surface Ghauri missile with a range of around 1,500 kilometers (940 miles), in April.

In May, India and Pakistan shock the world with a series of tit-for-tat underground nuclear detonations, confirming their long-suspected entry into the exclusive nuclear club.

Also in April, India tested the nuclear-capable Agni II, which - with its range of around 2,500 kilometers (1,560 miles) - could hit anywhere in Pakistan and deep into China.

Pakistan retaliated with a test of its Ghauri II missile, with a range of 1,500 kilometers, and its Shaheen missile (800 kilometers or 500 miles).

Pakistan test-fired a short-range Hatf I surface-to-surface ballistic missile reportedly able to reach targets up to 100 kilometers (60 miles) away, on February 7.

On January 25, India test-fired the intermediate Agni I missile with a range of 700 kilometers (440 miles). Islamabad warned test-firing increases regional instability but promised restraint.

On April 28, India tested a supersonic cruise missile, known as BrahMos, jointly developed with Russia. The missile has a range of 300 kilometers (186 miles) and can carry a 200-kilogramme (440-pound) conventional warhead.

(In addition to the Agni (Fire) series, India has already inducted the Prithvi (Earth) missile, a more cumbersome, fixed-silo delivery system with a maximum range of just 250 kilometers (150 miles). It has also tested a Trident short-range surface-to-air missile.)

May 25-28, Pakistan tested three missiles in quick succession: a short-range Abdali and Ghaznavi missile (with a reach of 180-290 kilometers/110 to 180 miles) and a long-range Ghauri missile.

September 24, India test-fired a Trident or Trishul short-range missile, which can reach nine kilometers (5.5 miles).

January 9: India test-fired its first surface-to-surface intermediate-range ballistic missile, Agni.

January 18: India test-fired medium range surface-to-air missile, Akash (Sky) missile which can carry a 55-kilogram (121-pound) warhead and target five warplanes simultaneously.

January 20: India test-fired surface-to-air Akash missile.

February 12: India test-fired short-range supersonic anti-ship cruise missile BrahMos.

March 26: Pakistan and India conducted short-range surface-to-surface missile tests on the same day, with India test-firing the Pirthivi missile and Pakistan test-firing its Abdali missile.

April 29: India test-fired its medium-range surface-to-surface Prithvi missile.

October 3: Pakistan test fired Ghaznavi or Hatf III surface-to-surface ballistic missile, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead 290 kilometers (180 miles).