Xeric
RETIRED THINK TANK
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Self preservation, existential threats, resistance to hegemony, and the strategic competition with rival India has spurred Pakistani efforts to acquire indiginously produced ballistic missiles . Pakistans missile industry includes a large solid rocket motor production complex and a ballistic missile test facility. Pakistan has gone a lot of pians to unsure tha that missiles are considered India-specific. All of Indian territory can now been targeted. Most analysts believe that Pakistni missile capability is more advanced than previously known or advertized.
Assessing Pakistans missile program is extremely difficult becuase of the dearth of information and the variety of sources which may come from biased sources. Tracking missile development in Pakistan is all the more difficult becuase, for obvious reasons of sanity and security, Pakistani government agencies deliberately resort to using a plethora of nomenclatures to describe one or another missile program. Indian analysts reduce the efforts of the Pakistani by labeling the missiles as imports. Pakistani misslies like the Indian missiles is based on Russian and Chinese technology. It also got cooperation from North Korea. HATF-3 (Ghaznavi), HATF-5 (Ghauri), HATF-4 (Shaheen-1) have already been handed over to Pakistan Armys Strategic Force Command.
Like India, Pakistan does not keep its ballistic missile force on operational alert. During peacetime, the missile force and nuclear warheads are stored separately; the warheads themselves are believed to be stored in a disassembled form for security reasons. Plans exist to assemble nuclear warheads during a crisis or emergency, and arm the missiles with warheads at a subsequent stage. Integrated teams of military personnel and nuclear scientists/engineers probably undertake such a task, ensuring organizational checks and balances, as well as ensuring that no rogue commander or scientist could act independently of the national command authority. However, the precise make-up of such teams, as well as the operational procedures for warhead assembly, dispersal, arming of the missile force during a crisis, and delegation of authority for use during a conflict, remain tightly held secrets. Source; NTI
The Swiss defense is based on taking advantage of their topography. Pakistani missles are kept deep inside mountain caves that can withstand nuclear attacks and prevent roving satellites and drones from discovering their actual locations.
Pakistans missile program is important for two reasons. First, Pakistan is a nuclear weapon state. Missiles give Pakistan the means to deliver its nuclear warheads farther and with more certainty than it could with aircraft. Second, the May nuclear weapons tests of both Pakistan and India illustrate the high tensions and spiraling arms race in South Asia. Ballistic missiles, which shorten warning times, increase the chances of accidental or preemptive nuclear conflict. According to Samar Mobarik Mand, a scientist at Pakistans Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Pakistan also has a 435 mile nuclear-capable missile ready for a test-launch, the Shaheen-I.
Assessing Pakistans missile program is extremely difficult becuase of the dearth of information and the variety of sources which may come from biased sources. Tracking missile development in Pakistan is all the more difficult becuase, for obvious reasons of sanity and security, Pakistani government agencies deliberately resort to using a plethora of nomenclatures to describe one or another missile program. Indian analysts reduce the efforts of the Pakistani by labeling the missiles as imports. Pakistani misslies like the Indian missiles is based on Russian and Chinese technology. It also got cooperation from North Korea. HATF-3 (Ghaznavi), HATF-5 (Ghauri), HATF-4 (Shaheen-1) have already been handed over to Pakistan Armys Strategic Force Command.
Like India, Pakistan does not keep its ballistic missile force on operational alert. During peacetime, the missile force and nuclear warheads are stored separately; the warheads themselves are believed to be stored in a disassembled form for security reasons. Plans exist to assemble nuclear warheads during a crisis or emergency, and arm the missiles with warheads at a subsequent stage. Integrated teams of military personnel and nuclear scientists/engineers probably undertake such a task, ensuring organizational checks and balances, as well as ensuring that no rogue commander or scientist could act independently of the national command authority. However, the precise make-up of such teams, as well as the operational procedures for warhead assembly, dispersal, arming of the missile force during a crisis, and delegation of authority for use during a conflict, remain tightly held secrets. Source; NTI
The Swiss defense is based on taking advantage of their topography. Pakistani missles are kept deep inside mountain caves that can withstand nuclear attacks and prevent roving satellites and drones from discovering their actual locations.
Pakistans missile program is important for two reasons. First, Pakistan is a nuclear weapon state. Missiles give Pakistan the means to deliver its nuclear warheads farther and with more certainty than it could with aircraft. Second, the May nuclear weapons tests of both Pakistan and India illustrate the high tensions and spiraling arms race in South Asia. Ballistic missiles, which shorten warning times, increase the chances of accidental or preemptive nuclear conflict. According to Samar Mobarik Mand, a scientist at Pakistans Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Pakistan also has a 435 mile nuclear-capable missile ready for a test-launch, the Shaheen-I.
