Pakistan unveils aircraft and rocket programs, parades military tech

A Pakistan Air Force fighter jet flies during a military parade in Islamabad, Pakistan, on March 23, 2024. (AP)

Pakistan-made ballistic missiles NASR and their launcher are displayed during a military parade in Islamabad, Pakistan, on March 23, 2024. (AP)

The Pakistani-made cruise missile Ra'ad-I was on display during the Pakistan National Day on March 23, 2024. (AP)

A Pakistani-made tank participates in a military parade in Islamabad, Pakistan, on March 23, 2024. (AP)

A Pakistani-made Shaheen-IA missile, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and its launcher take part in a March 23, 2024, military parade in Islamabad, Pakistan. (AP)

Pakistan--made anti-surface guided missiles Babur and the launcher are displayed during a military parade on March 23, 2024. (AP)

The Pakistan Air Force's aerobatic team Sherdils perform a maneuver during a military parade. (AP)

Pakistan Air Force JF-17 fighter jets perform at a rehearsal ahead of Pakistan's parade in Islamabad on March 21, 2024. (Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images)

Pakistanis celebrated their national day with a military parade that showcased the nation's elite units and high-tech weaponry. (AP)

Pakistani-made surface-to-surface missiles Fatah-I and the launcher are displayed during a military parade on March 23, 2024. (AP)

A Pakistan Air Force F-16 fighter jet performs aerobatic maneuvers during Pakistan's national day parade in Islamabad on March 23, 2024. (Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images)

Pakistan Air Force paratroopers perform during a parade in Islamabad on March 23, 2024. (Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images)

Pakistan Air Force J-10C fighter jets perform at a rehearsal ahead of Pakistan's national day parade in Islamabad on March 21, 2024. (Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images)

Pakistan Air Force helicopters fly past during a rehearsal ahead of a parade in Islamabad on March 21, 2024. (Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images)

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s military showed off its wares and unveiled several defense program during the March 23 Pakistan Day Parade in the capital.

The country displayed new equipment including the Haider platform, the first locally produced, Chinese-designed VT-4 main battle tank . The tank in the parade itself was from the pilot production batch unveiled March 6 by state-owned armored fighting vehicles manufacturer Heavy Industries Taxila.

Pakistan received 300 VT-4 tanks from China under a 2017 deal that involved local production. The system’s design originates from the Al-Khalid/VT-1A that is already in service and produced by Heavy Industries Taxila.

The long-range HQ-9/P surface-to-air missile system also made an appearance for the first time. And the military brought its Fatah 2 guided multiple-launch rocket system and its medium-range Ababeel ballistic missile that carries multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles.

The Chinese-supplied HQ-9/P entered service in 2021, with the parade announcer confirming it had a range of 125 kilometers (78 miles). That falls short of the 250-kilometer-range HQ-9 variants in Chinese service .

Pakistan has also announced new programs, including the PFX effort to replace the JF-17 combat aircraft. It’s 450-kilometer-range Fatah 3 is set to soon enter service, with the 700-kilometer-range Fatah 4 under development.

Justin Bronk, an aerospace expert at the Royal United Services Institute think tank in London, said the HQ-9 offers “shorter effective ranges, but with superior sensor performance compared to the S-300PMU-2 family of Russian [surface-to-air missiles] that they were broadly derived from.”

The weapon relies “on a family of missiles to cover various ranges,” he told Defense News, noting that “the HQ-9/P range — compared to longer-range variants — relates less to the system itself and more to which of the larger interceptor missile versions China was willing to export to Pakistan.”

Still, the military’s media branch, Inter Services Public Relations Pakistan, has previously stated the HQ-9/P significantly enhances Pakistan’s air defense architecture and is fully integrated via a digitized system.

Mansoor Ahmed, an expert on Pakistan’s nonconventional weapons programs and delivery systems, said the Ababeel missile’s presence was likely in response to India’s March 11 test of its Agni-V missile and ballistic missile defense capabilities. The Agni-V is also equipped with a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle.

The Ababeel missile was last tested in 2023, but its service entry was not announced.

An Agni-V is displayed during a parade in New Delhi, India, on Jan. 26, 2013. (Raveendran/AFP via Getty Images)

Ahmed, who is now an academic at the Australian National University, told Defense News that Pakistan felt compelled “to demonstrate that it had the credibility and resolve to deter crisis and first-strike instabilities in South Asia.”

He anticipates tests of India’s K-5 and K-6 MIRV-equipped, submarine-launched ballistic missiles “will spur further development of the Ababeel as a series of canisterized and longer-range versions that could carry heavier payloads for possible deployment on submarines in the future, for achieving greater survivability and operational flexibility that covers all possible targets in India.”

He noted this year there seems to be more nuclear-capable missiles on display, and Ababeel and its future developments have “become central to maintain a credible and dynamic full-spectrum deterrent.”

Pakistan’s PFX Program announcement came as a surprise, given existing plans to acquire the Chinese J-31 jet and the country’s involvement in the Turkish Kaan figther aircraft program. A previous fifth-generation program, dubbed Project Azm, seems to have been quietly shelved.

Design work is underway for the PFX Program, but little other detail is known.

A full-scale model of Turkey's TF-X, or Kaan, is presented at the 2019 Paris Air Show. (Eric Piermont/AFP via Getty Images)

However, Trevor Taylor, who leads the RUSI think tank’s Defence, Industries and Society Programme, said Pakistan’s decision is in line with other programs in India and richer Indo-Pacific states.

Indeed, the costs “would be high, and judging from the experience of others, the development time would be extensive,” Taylor told Defense News. He added there’s a likelihood Pakistan will import key subsystems such as engines, radars and other avionics for the PFX Program.

Analyst and former Pakistan Air Force pilot Kaiser Tufail agreed. “How the cost of such a platform would be kept within affordable limits would be a challenge and would depend on the export potential of the PFX,” he told Defense News.

Importantly, the extent of help from China “would be a key factor,” Taylor noted, and “a basic issue that would have to be addressed would be reconciling an ability to carry weapons with low radar observability.”

Cooperation appears certain, with Turkey as one option, according to aerospace expert Doug Barrie at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank. Alongside the PFX Program, he cited Pakistan’s February announcement to team up with Turkey to develop a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile.

However, he said, “given the very close defense aerospace ties between Pakistan and China, I wouldn’t discount that either.”

As for its features, Pakistan would likely want the PFX aircraft to “have stealth capability, which should also entail conformal weapons carriage and enough internal fuel,” Tufail said.

“A powerful [active electronically scanned array] radar and [beyond-visual-range] missiles that can outrange the Meteor of the Rafale should also be prime requisites,” he added. “Seamless sensor fusion, alongside comprehensive [electronic counter-countermeasures] capability, would be equally important.”

Pakistan’s announcement of the Fatah 3 and Fatah 4 weapons indicates the government continues to develop systems to “both enable greater precision firepower from deep within the country against Indian front-line targets, and similar reach into valuable Indian rear-area bases and systems from Pakistani border areas,” according to Frank O’Donnell, a nonresident fellow with the Stimson Center think tank’s South Asia Program.

By focusing on the offensive capabilities of multiple launch rocket systems and drones, Pakistan is able to free up its Air Force from strike missions to higher-level air-to-air combat roles, O’Donnell said, citing the parade commentator who stated the Fatah 2 “can evade any enemy air defense system.”

This “underlines how Pakistan is continuing to implement lessons from the Russia-Ukraine and Azerbaijan-Armenia wars,” he added. Both of those conflicts have featured the heavy use of combat drones.

And notably, he said, “sophisticated Russian air and missile defense systems — such as the Russian S-400, which India is deploying against Pakistan — are still vulnerable to asymmetric missile barrages and drone strikes.”

Usman Ansari is the Pakistan correspondent for Defense News.

2024年3月23日，一架巴基斯坦空军战斗机在巴基斯坦伊斯兰堡举行的阅兵式上飞行。（美联社）

2024年3月23日，巴基斯坦伊斯兰堡举行阅兵式，巴基斯坦制造的NASR弹道导弹及其发射装置亮相。（美联社）

2024年3月23日巴基斯坦国庆日当天，巴基斯坦制造的“雷霆-1”巡航导弹亮相。（美联社）

2024年3月23日，一辆巴基斯坦制造的坦克参加在巴基斯坦伊斯兰堡举行的阅兵式。（美联社）

2024年3月23日，一枚巴基斯坦制造的“沙欣-IA”导弹及其发射装置在巴基斯坦伊斯兰堡举行的阅兵式上亮相。该导弹可携带核弹头。（美联社）

2024年3月23日，巴基斯坦在阅兵式上展示了巴基斯坦制造的“巴布尔”反地导弹及其发射装置。（美联社）

巴基斯坦空军“雄狮”特技飞行表演队在阅兵式上进行飞行表演。（美联社）

2024年3月21日，巴基斯坦空军JF-17战斗机在伊斯兰堡进行阅兵式彩排。（Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images）

巴基斯坦举行阅兵式庆祝国庆日，展示了该国的精锐部队和高科技武器装备。（美联社）

2024年3月23日，巴基斯坦在阅兵式上展示了巴基斯坦制造的“法塔赫-1”型地对地导弹及其发射装置。（美联社）

2024年3月23日，巴基斯坦空军一架F-16战斗机在伊斯兰堡举行的巴基斯坦国庆阅兵式上进行特技飞行表演。（Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images）

2024年3月23日，巴基斯坦空军伞兵在伊斯兰堡参加阅兵式。（Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images）

2024年3月21日，巴基斯坦空军歼-10C战斗机在伊斯兰堡进行巴基斯坦国庆阅兵式彩排。（Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images）

2024年3月21日，巴基斯坦空军直升机在伊斯兰堡阅兵式前的彩排中飞过。（Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images）

伊斯兰堡——3月23日，巴基斯坦军方在首都伊斯兰堡举行的巴基斯坦国庆日阅兵式上展示了其装备，并公布了多项国防计划。

该国展示了包括海德尔平台在内的新装备，这是中国自主研发并生产的首款VT-4主战坦克。阅兵式上展出的坦克正是3月6日由国有装甲战车制造商塔克西拉重工推出的首批试生产型坦克之一。

巴基斯坦根据2017年与中国达成的一项协议，从中国接收了300辆VT-4坦克，该协议涉及巴基斯坦本土生产。该系统的设计源自巴基斯坦重型工业公司（塔克西拉）生产的现役“哈立德”/VT-1A坦克。

远程HQ-9/P地对空导弹系统也首次亮相。此外，军方还带来了“法塔赫2”多管火箭炮系统和可携带多个独立目标重返大气层载具的中程“阿巴比尔”弹道导弹。

中国提供的HQ-9/P型导弹于2021年投入使用，阅兵式播音员确认其射程为125公里（78英里）。这比中国现役射程为250公里的HQ-9系列导弹要短。

巴基斯坦还宣布了多项新计划，包括旨在取代JF-17战斗机的PFX项目。其射程450公里的“法塔赫3”战斗机即将服役，而射程700公里的“法塔赫4”战斗机正在研发中。

伦敦皇家联合军种研究所的航空航天专家贾斯汀·布朗克表示，HQ-9 的有效射程“较短，但传感器性能优于其广泛借鉴的俄罗斯 S-300PMU-2 系列地对空导弹”。

他告诉《防务新闻》，该武器依靠“一系列导弹来覆盖不同的射程”，并指出“HQ-9/P 的射程——与远程型号相比——与其说是系统本身的问题，不如说是中国愿意向巴基斯坦出口哪种更大射程的拦截导弹的问题”。

不过，巴基斯坦军方媒体部门“三军公共关系部”此前曾表示，HQ-9/P 显著增强了巴基斯坦的防空体系，并通过数字化系统实现了完全集成。

巴基斯坦非常规武器项目和运载系统专家曼苏尔·艾哈迈德表示，阿巴比尔导弹的出现很可能是为了回应印度3月11日进行的烈火-5导弹试验及其弹道导弹防御能力测试。烈火-5导弹还配备了多弹头独立重返大气层载具。

阿巴贝尔导弹最后一次测试是在 2023 年，但并未宣布其服役。

2013 年 1 月 26 日，印度新德里的游行中展示了烈火 V。（Raveendran/法新社，盖蒂图片社）

现任澳大利亚国立大学学者的艾哈迈德告诉《防务新闻》，巴基斯坦感到有必要“证明它有信誉和决心来阻止南亚的危机和先发制人的不稳定局面”。

他预计印度 K-5 和 K-6 多弹头潜射弹道导弹的测试“将推动 Ababeel 系列导弹的进一步发展，使其成为一系列筒式和远程版本，可以携带更重的有效载荷，以便未来可能部署在潜艇上，从而实现更高的生存能力和作战灵活性，覆盖印度境内所有可能的目标。”

他指出，今年似乎有更多具备核能力的导弹亮相，而阿巴贝尔导弹及其未来的发展“已成为维持可信且动态的全方位威慑力量的核心”。

鉴于巴基斯坦已有采购中国歼-31战机的计划，并且参与了土耳其卡安战斗机项目，其宣布启动PFX项目令人颇感意外。此前，巴基斯坦曾启动过一个名为“阿兹姆计划”的第五代战机项目，但似乎已被悄然搁置。

PFX 程序的设计工作正在进行中，但其他细节尚不清楚。

在2019年巴黎航展上，土耳其TF-X（又称“卡安”）战斗机的全尺寸模型亮相。（Eric Piermont/AFP via Getty Images）

然而，皇家联合军种研究所（RUSI）国防、工业和社会项目负责人特雷弗·泰勒表示，巴基斯坦的决定与印度和更富裕的印太国家的其他项目是一致的。

泰勒告诉《防务新闻》，成本确实“会很高，而且根据其他人的经验，研发时间也会很长”。他还补充说，巴基斯坦很可能会为PFX项目进口关键子系统，例如发动机、雷达和其他航空电子设备。

分析人士、前巴基斯坦空军飞行员凯撒·图费尔对此表示赞同。他告诉《防务新闻》：“如何将这种平台的成本控制在可承受的范围内将是一个挑战，这取决于PFX的出口潜力。”

泰勒指出，中国提供的帮助程度“将是一个关键因素”，而且“必须解决的一个基本问题是，如何在具备携带武器能力的同时降低雷达可探测性”。

伦敦国际战略研究所的航空航天专家道格·巴里表示，合作似乎已成定局，土耳其是其中一个选项。除了PFX项目外，他还提到巴基斯坦2月份宣布将与土耳其合作研发超视距空空导弹。

但他表示，“考虑到巴基斯坦和中国在国防航空航天领域非常紧密的联系，我也不能排除这种可能性。”

图费尔表示，就其性能而言，巴基斯坦可能希望 PFX 飞机“具备隐身能力，这也应该包括保形武器挂载和足够的内部燃料”。

他还补充道：“强大的有源相控阵雷达和射程超过阵风战斗机‘流星’导弹的超视距导弹也应该是首要条件。无缝的传感器融合以及全面的电子对抗能力同样重要。”

据史汀生中心南亚项目非常驻研究员弗兰克·奥唐纳称，巴基斯坦宣布推出“法塔赫3”和“法塔赫4”武器表明，巴基斯坦政府继续开发相关系统，以“既能从巴基斯坦境内纵深对印度前线目标进行更精确的火力打击，也能从巴基斯坦边境地区对印度重要的后方基地和系统进行类似的打击”。

奥唐纳表示，巴基斯坦通过专注于多管火箭炮系统和无人机的进攻能力，能够将其空军从打击任务中解放出来，转而承担更高层次的空对空作战角色。他还援引阅兵评论员的话说，法塔赫2型“可以躲避任何敌方防空系统”。

他补充说，这“凸显了巴基斯坦正在继续吸取俄乌战争和阿塞拜疆-亚美尼亚战争的教训”。这两场冲突都大量使用了作战无人机。

他还特别指出，“俄罗斯先进的防空和导弹防御系统——例如印度正在部署对巴基斯坦的俄罗斯S-400系统——仍然​​容易受到不对称导弹齐射和无人机袭击的影响。”

乌斯曼·安萨里是《防务新闻》驻巴基斯坦记者。