According to P.I. Cheema, head of the Islamabad Policy Research Institute think tank, who last year co-edited “Ballistic Missiles and South Asian Security,” these efforts are sparked by the Indian threat.
“The driving force behind the program is basically India,” he said. “Basically, throughout the Indo-Pak standoff, Pakistan has always been striving for parity or a qualitative edge, given the disparity we have in terms of numbers. Continuous improvisation is required to ensure the system works and remains valid, so you have to continuously update your systems.”
A ballistic missile arsenal is necessary to maintain a national deterrent. The close geographical proximity of India and Pakistan would also make surprise attacks with conventionally armed missiles highly effective.
It is widely believed Pakistan obtained at least some missile-related know-how from abroad to initiate its efforts. The solid-fueled Chinese M-11 and liquid-fueled North Korean No Dong, plus associated technologies, are widely regarded to have formed the building blocks of the Pakistan program.
This has resulted in the Ghauri and Shaheen series of medium- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The established development/deployment pattern has seen the simpler liquid-fueled Ghauri series initially fielded, followed by the more advanced, solid-fueled Shaheen.
Liquid-fueled missiles require a longer logistics train (due to having to separately transport the fuel) and take hours to fuel, but they have performed a vital stopgap function. In this way, the 1,500-kilometer range Ghauri-I formed a stopgap until supplemented by the 750-kilometer range Shaheen-I, and then replaced by the 2,300 kilometer Ghauri-II.
With the deployment of the 2,500-kilometer Shaheen-II, development has shifted to the proposed 3,500- to 4,000-kilometer range Ghauri-III, which will be eventually replaced by the envisioned 4,000- to 4,500-kilometer Shaheen-III.
