Pakistani missile research and development program
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The missile research and development program was the Pakistan Ministry of Defence secretive program for the comprehensive research and the development of the guided missiles.[1][2] Initiatives began in 1987 in a direct response to equivalent program existed in India and was managed under the scrutiny of the Ministry of Defence in close coordination with the other related institutions.[3]
On moral grounds, no chemical weapons were developed as the program focused towards developing the short to medium range missiles with a proper computer guidance system.[1] The project started in 1987 and has since spawned several strategic missile systems capable of carrying both conventional and nonconventional payloads.[1] In its early stage, the Hatf missiles were made feasible as well as developing the Ghauri missile program.[citation needed] Further development led to the introduction of ballistics and cruise missiles by different scientific organizations in the 2000s.[citation needed]
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[hide]Program overview[edit]
Planning and initiatives for the program began in 1987 based on an intelligence estimates on the existence of the missile program of India, which was taking place under the Indian DRDO.[3] Memoirs written by former chief of army staff General Mirza Beg, the eventual planning of the program began in 1987, with many of the organizations associated with the Ministry of Defence.[4] The program was delegated to Space Research Commission, DESTO, KRL, and PAEC, all individually working on the program under the MoD and the MoDP.[3]
President Zia-ul-Haq had held several national security meetings with the MoD and MoST officials to give crucial authorization for the launch of the program in 1987.[3] The major motivation for this program, according to a military official, was to counter the India's ingeniously developed Prithvi system, first successfully tested in 1988.[3] Only Hatf project was made it operational in 1987–88.[5]Restriction and strict technology transfer monitored by the MTCL by the numbers of Western countries and the United States slowed the efforts for the program.[6] In a direct technological race with India, the program was focused more towards ingenuity.[7]
The program was aggressively pursued by Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's government faced with the missile gap with India with apparent testing of Prithvi-I missile in 1990 and strongly advocated and lobbied for the program's feasibility in the 1990s.[6][8] From 1993 to 1995, the program focused on developing the comprehensive short- to medium-range missiles systems to deter missile threat from India.[9] The program picked up speed under the control of Prime MinisterBenazir Bhutto, and its existence was kept under extreme secrecy.[10] Crucial decisions were taken by Benazir government and technologies were developed under administration ultimately resulted in the successful development of both short– and medium-range systems.[8]
Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is described as a political "architect of Pakistan's missile technology" by Emily MacFarquhar of Alicia Patterson Foundation.[11] At the leftist convention held in 2014, former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani said, "Benazir Bhutto gave this country the much-needed missile technology".[12]
The program eventually expended and diversified with the successful development of the cruise missiles and other strategic level arsenals in the early 2000s.[13]
Codenames[edit]
Secretive codenames for the projects of concerning national security had been issued since the 1970s, and the military continued to do so, to promote the secrecy around the missile programme. The missile systems in this program were all given codenames by their respective organizations. However, all missiles were issued single codename series: Hatf, for the surface to surface guided ballistic missiles.[3] This codename was selected by the research and development committee at the GHQ of the Pakistan Army.[3] In Arabic, hatf meaning "death" refers to the sword of the Prophet Muhammad(P.B.U.H) which was used in many of his military conquests, and had the unique distinction of never missing its target.[3]
The other unofficial names, such as Ghauri and Abdali, are given the names of historical figures in the Islamic conquest of South Asia.[14] Pakistan's missile systems are named after the powerful Pashtun warlords who invaded India from the historical region of Greater Khorasan;present day Afghanistan and western Pakistan between the 11th and 18th centuries in an attempt to expand their empires.[14]
Battle-range system[edit]
Main article: Hatf
The Hatf system (English tr.: "Vengeance") was the first project that was developed under this program in 1980s and the project went to the Pakistan Army. Designed by the SRC and developed by the KRL, the program was seen as to India's Prithvi, with three variants developed for the use by the Pakistan Army. Classified under the BRBM class, the missile has been in services with Pakistan Army since 1992.[5]
The Hatf–I is an unguided ballistic missile mounted on a TEL vehicle with a range of 70 kilometres (43 mi); it has capability of both carrying the conventional and nuclear payloads of 500 kilograms (1,100 lb).[5] The programme initially led by the SRC after developing the Hatf–IA , an improved version 300 kilometres (190 mi) with same payload.[15] Its final evolution led to the development of the Hatf–IB which includes a proper computer inertial guidance system with an extended range. The program evolved into final introduction of the Hatf–IV designation with a maximum range of 900 kilometres (560 mi) with a payload of 1,000kg (2,200lb), equipped with a computer inertial navigation system.[16] In 2011, the NDC developed the latest battle-field range system that seen as a compatible to Hatf–IV and widely believed to be a delivery system for small tactical nuclear weapons, which is codenamed as: Hatf–IX Nasr.
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