Pakistani missile research and development program: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 20:55, 13 November 2023

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The '''Hatf Program'''<ref name="Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control">{{cite web |title=Pakistan Derives its First "Hatf" Missiles from Foreign Space Rockets |url=https://www.wisconsinproject.org/pakistan-derives-its-first-hatf-missiles-from-foreign-space-rockets/ |website=Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control |access-date=20 August 2023 |date=1 October 1995}}</ref><ref name="Defence Journal, 1998" /> ([[Urdu]]: حتف; [[Transliteration|''Trans''.]] ''ḥāṯaʿf'', meaning: [[Aiming point|''Target'']]<ref name="Defence Journal, 1998" />) was the [[Secrecy|classified]] program by the [[Ministry of Defence Pakistan|Ministry of Defence]] (MoD) of Pakistan for the comprehensive [[Research and development in Pakistan|research]] and the [[Research and development in Pakistan|development]] of [[guided missile]]s.<ref name="Pakistan Observer, 2012">{{cite news|last1=Daheem|first1=Mohammad|title=Pakistan's missile capability|url=http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=178539|access-date=21 November 2014|agency=Pakistan Observer|publisher=Pakistan Observer, 2012|date=18 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129044501/http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=178539|archive-date=29 November 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Lancer">{{cite book|last1=Karim|first1=Afsir|title=Indo-Pak relations : viewpoints, 1989-1996.|date=1996|publisher=Lancer|___location=New Delhi|isbn=189782923X|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ltOgS1FjiR4C&q=pakistan+missile+program+1987&pg=PA43|access-date=21 November 2014}}</ref> Initiatives began in 1986–87 that also received support from [[Prime Minister of Pakistan|Prime Minister]] [[Benazir Bhutto]] in a direct response to India's [[Integrated Guided Missile Development Program|equivalent program]] in 1989.<ref name="Pakistan Missile Milestones">{{cite web |title=Pakistan Missile Milestones - 1994 |url=https://www.wisconsinproject.org/pakistan-missile-milestones-1961-2014/ |website=Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control |access-date=20 August 2023 |date=1 September 2014}}</ref><ref>Hans M. Kristensen, Robert S. Norris & Julia Diamond (2018) Pakistani nuclear forces, 2018, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 74:5, 348-358</ref>

The ''Hatf'' program was managed by the [[Ministry of Defence Pakistan|Ministry of Defence]] though the policy guidance came directly from the [[General Headquarters (Pakistan Army)|Army HQ]] of the [[Pakistan Army]] in [[Rawalpindi]].. <ref name="Defence Journal, 1998">{{cite web|last1=Lodhi|first1=Lt.Gen. S.F.S.|title=Pakistan's Missile Technology|url=http://defencejournal.com/may98/pakmissiletech.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990221044419/http://defencejournal.com/may98/pakmissiletech.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 February 1999|publisher=Defence Journal, 1998|access-date=21 November 2014|date=31 May 1998}}</ref>

==Program overview==

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===Codenames===

The Pakistani military issued its entire weapon system with a single military designation series: ''Hatf'' ([[Transliteration|Trans.]] [[Aiming point|''Target'']]), for the [[Surface to surface missile|surface-to-surface]] [[guided missile|guided]] [[ballistic missile]]s.<ref name="Defence Journal, 1998" /> This designation was selected by the [[Research and development in Pakistan|research and development]] committee at the [[GHQ (Pakistan Army)|Army GHQ]] of the [[Pakistan Army]] that provided the policy guidance to the program.<ref name="Defence Journal, 1998" /> In [[Turkish language|Turkish]], the ''hatf'' meaning "Target" or "Aim point" refers to the [[Arab sword|sword]] of the [[Muhammad]] which was used in many of his [[Military career of Muhammad|military conquest]]s, and was believed to never miss its target.<ref name="Defence Journal, 1998" />

The unofficial names, such as [[Ghauri (missile)|Ghauri]], ''Ghaznavi'', and [[Abdali-I|Abdali]], were the codenames for developing projects to the defense contractors that were given the names of historical figures in the [[Islamic conquest of South Asia|Islamic conquest]] of [[Greater India|South Asia]].<ref name="BBC, Pakistan Bureau"/> The contractors were issued the project names after the [[Afghanistan#Islamization and Mongol invasion|Turkish nomads]] invaded India from the historical region of [[Greater Khorasan]]..<ref name="BBC, Pakistan Bureau">{{cite news|last1=Abbas|first1=Zaffar|title=Pakistan's missile symbolism|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2014843.stm|access-date=26 December 2014|agency=BBC|publisher=BBC, Pakistan Bureau|date=28 May 2002}}</ref> Besides the cruise missile systems, the ballistics, ranged weapons, and artillery systems are managed and control under the [[Army Strategic Forces Command (Pakistan)|strategic command]] of the Pakistan Army.<ref name="Defence Journal, 1998" />

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{{Main|Hatf}}

The [[Hatf-I]] ([[English language|English tr.]]: "Target") was the first project that was developed under this program in 1987, and the system is deployed under the [[Pakistan Army]].<ref name="Pakistan Defence Consortium">{{cite web|title=Timelime of Missiles|url=http://www.pakistanidefence.com/Nuclear&Missiles/Missile_Program_Chronology.html|publisher=Pakistan Defence Consortium|access-date=22 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924063558/http://www.pakistanidefence.com/Nuclear%26Missiles/Missile_Program_Chronology.html|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The ''Hatf-I'' is a [[Battlefield range ballistic missile|battlefield range]] system developed by the [[SUPARCO|Space Research Commission]], together with the [[Khan Research Laboratories]] (KRL), oversaw the development of the first system that was seen as direct competition with Indian [[Prithvi (missile)|''Prithvi'']] system.<ref name="Pakistan Defence Consortium"/>

Despite claims of success by Pakistani administration, the Pakistani military admissions indicated that inaccuracy of the missile system that led to the shelving of the program until 2000 when it entered finally in the military service.{{rp|235-245}}<ref name="Stanford University Press, Khan, 2012" /> The Western assessments believed this system to influence directly from American and French space rockets that Space Research Commission studied as part of its original civilian space program.<ref>"Pakistan derives its first 'Hatf' missiles from foreign space rockets," The Risk Report, October 1995, p. 5</ref><ref name="Missiles of the World">{{cite web|url=http://www.missilethreat.com/missilesoftheworld/id.47/missile_detail.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008193609/http://www.missilethreat.com/missilesoftheworld/id.47/missile_detail.asp |archive-date=2007-10-08 |url-status=dead |title=MissileThreat :: Hatf 1 :: Missiles of the World |access-date=7 February 2015}}</ref> Lessons and experiences learn from the Hatf-I eventually led to the designs and development of the [[Nasr (missile)|''Nasr'']] in 2011, which is widely believed to be a delivery system for small [[tactical nuclear weapon|tactical]] [[nuclear weapon]]s.<ref name="Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control" /> The [[Battlefield range ballistic missile|battlefield range]] system is exclusively designed and deployed under the services of the Pakistan Army.<ref name="BBC, Pakistan Bureau" />

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[[File:SRBM Comparison.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Comparison by [[Missile Defense Agency|MDA]] of India and Pakistan's [[SRBM|short-range]] systems.]]

The [[Zia regime|Zia administration]] was able to attained former Soviet [[Scud missile|Scud]] technology from the former [[Afghan National Army]] but it was very little that the country's scientists could learn from short-range missile system.{{rp|235-244}}<ref name="Stanford University Press, Khan, 2012" /> It was in 1993 when the [[Benazir Bhutto]] government began seeking the procurement of [[DF-11]] (Pakistani military designation: M11) from [[People's Republic of China|China]] which it succeeded in procuring in secrecy.<ref name="Janes"/> The Chinese short-range missile, however, are not nuclear weapons delivery capable, and any attempts to reverse engineer the Chinese missiles failed the delivery mechanism of the system.{{rp|235-244}}<ref name="Stanford University Press, Khan, 2012" />

In 1995, the program on developing the short-range missiles based on solid fuel platform began with China agreeing to provide technological assistance in terms or providing education on aerospace and controls engineering at their universities.{{rp|235-244}}<ref name="Stanford University Press, Khan, 2012" /> Facing with deployment limitations of M-11, the [[Abdali-I|Abdali program]] was designed and made feasible for the [[SUPARCO|Space Research Commission]] in 1995, whilst the [[Ghaznavi (missile)|Ghaznavi program]] was delegated to [[National Defence Complex]], which derived the program from M-11 designs.{{rp|235-244}}<ref name="Stanford University Press, Khan, 2012" /><ref name="Janes">{{cite web |title=Hatf 3 (Ghaznavi) (Pakistan), Offensive weapons|url=http://articles.janes.com/articles/Janes-Strategic-Weapon-Systems/Hatf-3-Ghaznavi-Pakistan.html|access-date=16 June 2011|publisher=Janes}}</ref> The rocket engine for [[Ghaznavi (missile)|Ghaznavi]] tested in 1997 and is stated to have been a major break-through.<ref name="Janes"/> The [[DESTO (Pakistan)|DESTO]] took initiatives of designing five different types of [[warhead]]s for the ''Ghaznavi'' and ''Abdali'' can be delivered with a [[Circular Error Probability|CEP]] of 0.1% at 600&nbsp;km.<ref name="Janes"/> The Pakistani military officials have refuted the claims of ''Ghaznavi'' being developed in China and stressed that the entire system was designed in Pakistan amid in secrecy.<ref name="Lodi, Pakistan's Missile Technology">{{Cite web | last =Lodi | first =[[Lieutenant General]] Safdar F.S. | title =Pakistan's Missile Technology | work =Head of Integrated Missile Research and Development Programme (IMRDP) | publisher =Defence Journal of Pakistan | date =May 1998 | url =http://www.defencejournal.com/may98/pakmissiletech.htm | access-date =10 November 2010 | archive-date =2 November 2015 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20151102015319/http://www.defencejournal.com/may98/pakmissiletech.htm | url-status =dead }}</ref>

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|publisher=Missile Threat

|access-date=22 November 2014

}}</ref> The ''Shaheen'' program was developed with [[Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle|MIRV capability]] to address missile gap and to counter India's [[Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Programme|missile defense]].<ref name="Missile Threat"/><ref>{{cite news

|title=Pakistan conducts first flight test of Ababeel surface-to-surface missile

|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1310452/pakistan-conducts-first-flight-test-of-ababeel-surface-to-surface-missile

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Development on understanding and developing cruise missile technology began when India started its [[Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Programme|missile defense program]] in 1998. During the tense environment between [[Second Nawaz Sharif ministry|Sharif administration]], [[Premiership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee|Vajpayee premiership]] and [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|Clinton administration]], the development of cruise missile was started with India acquiring the [[S-300 missile system|S-300 ''Grumble'']] from [[Russia]] while attempting to negotiate with the United States to induct the [[MIM-104 Patriot|Patriot PAC-3]] to supplement its ''Grumble'' system— all of these development had adversely affected Pakistan's land-based deterrence mechanism.{{rp|388}}<ref name="Stanford University Press, Khan, 2012"/>

For Pakistan, it took years until [[2005 in Pakistan|2005]] to make its cruise missile program feasible when the first [[Babur (cruise missile)| ''Babur'']] (Pakistani military designation: ''Hatf-VII'') was test-fired by the army, amid surprising the [[United States]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-09-17/pakistan/33901443_1_nuclear-capable-hatf-vii-terrain-contour | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918122437/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-09-17/pakistan/33901443_1_nuclear-capable-hatf-vii-terrain-contour | url-status=dead | archive-date=2012-09-18 | work=[[The Times of India]] | title=Pakistan test-fires nuclear-capable Babur missile with 700&nbsp;km range}}</ref> In 2007, the Pakistan announced the development and test-firing of ''[[Ra'ad|]]''Ra'ad'']] (Pakistani military designation: ''Hatf-VIII''), which validates the air-launched capability of Pakistan's cruse missiles.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article3492864.ece | title=Pak test fires Hatf VII nuclear missile | date=5 June 2012 | ___location=Chennai, India | work=The Hindu}}</ref>

In 2017, Pakistan conducted a successful launch of the ''Babur-III'' missile from an underwater mobile platform– a long desired and sought-after capability for the Navy that it effectively established Pakistan's [[second-strike capability]] from sea.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-missiles-idUSKBN14T1EL|title=Pakistan fires 'first submarine-launched nuclear-capable missile'|date=10 January 2017|access-date=26 July 2017|newspaper=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://arynews.tv/en/pakistan-test-fires-first-submarine-launched-cruise-missile-babur-3/|title=Pakistan test-fires first submarine cruise missile Babur-3|website=AryNews.tv|date=9 January 2017|access-date=26 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38563330|title=Pakistan 'launches first cruise missile from submarine'|work=BBC News|date=9 January 2017|access-date=26 July 2017}}</ref>