India, Dec. 7 -- When a country announces a powerful new missile, it is not enough to show a dramatic video. Serious militaries and serious analysts look for data-radar tracks, flight paths, speed and altitude, guidance behaviour and proof that the missile did what the government claims it did. This evidence usually comes in the form of telemetry and tracking footage.

In Pakistan's recent showcase of its anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM), that kind of evidence was almost completely missing. Instead of technical information, the Pakistan Navy offered a stylish, tightly edited launch video and a distant impact plume at sea. The visuals were designed to impress, but they did not answer the basic technical question: did the missile actually...