IDEAS 2018: PAKISTAN AND UKRAINE TO COLLABORATE ON PRECISION MUNITIONS
During the 2018 International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS) — which took place in 27-30 of last month in Karachi, Pakistan – officials from Ukraine and Pakistan officially agreed to bilaterally collaborate on the development of defence systems,including “high-precision weapons.”
UkrOboronProm, a state-owned enterprise that serves as the parent company for Ukraine’s main defence industry vendors – such as Antonov, Kharkiv Morozov Machine-Building Design Bureau (KMDB) and others –
announced that both Ukraine and Pakistan were interested in joint munitions development.
In its press release,
UkrOboronProm stated:
In particular, talks were held with the leadership of one of Pakistan’s scientific and industrial organizations. It was discussed the terms and conditions for the start of joint Ukrainian-Pakistani production of high-precision missiles of various classes. The parties confirmed their readiness to start joint research and development work in the coming months.
Notes & Comments:
Based on UkrOboronProm statements, it appears that the intent to collaborate on new precision-guided munitions is serious on both sides. Though neither Ukrainian or Pakistani officials outlined the munitions they are interested in developing. However, UkrOboronProm existing programs might offer indications.
Today, UkrOboronProm flagship munitions program is the
Neptunecruise missile. With a range of 280 km, the Neptune was designed to engage fixed and moving targets, including ships.
Leveraging Ukraine’s cruise missile technology could be of interest to Pakistan, which has its own
growing roster of domestically-built designs, such as the
Babur land-attack cruise missile (LACM),
Harba anti-ship missile (AShM) and
Ra’ad air-launched cruise missile (ALCM).
In terms of cruise missiles, Ukraine possesses several critical competencies, such as mastery over small or
miniature turbofan engines and electronics. Ukraine is working on developing these further as part of its Korshun program, which aims to bring a terrain-hugging LACM to fruition.
Besides cruise missiles, Pakistan and Ukraine could also collaborate on solid-fuel, rocket-based munitions as well. These can range from short-range anti-tank guided missiles (including disposable or single-use) to 122 mm and 300 mm artillery rockets and, potentially,short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM).