On 29 August, the Pakistan Army Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Field Marshal Asim Munir, visited Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF).
While reviewing POF’s projects – e.g., from a new gas-operated assault rifle to new quadcopter-compatible drop munitions – the CDF was also briefed on a tailless delta loitering munition similar in concept to Iran’s Shahed-136. This would be at least the second munition of this type under development in Pakistan, with the other being the Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) D-248, which has a stated range of 2,200-3,000 km.
The actual ranges of these new munitions are yet to be validated or verified, but the information provided (if only for marketing purposes) and other news (i.e., Ukraine’s Fire Point promoting the FP-1) showcase how the Pakistan Army is looking to shape its long-range strike capability.
Basically, the Army’s desired ‘reach capacity’ likely calls for munitions with ranges of 2,000-3,000 km, with low-cost, piston-powered one-way-attack (OWA) drones being a key component. Thus, both state-owned enterprises (SOEs) – e.g., HIT and POF – and private sector-led partnerships (e.g., Fire Point) are actively competing for an apparent bid. If the goal is to emulate Russia, Ukraine, and Iran in their scale-heavy and mass-salvo strategies, then one can expect the Army seeking large numbers of these long-range OWAs to build a large stockpile and wartime production capacity for replenishment.
So, in this context, domestic production via technology transfers and indigenization is expected. However, it will be worth seeing which entities take on the production work, specifically whether they are new private sector entrants or established SOEs. On paper at least, the recently formed Defence Industrial Production and Regulatory Authority (DIPRA) promises pathways for the private sector to pursue this opportunity (i.e., a requirement that could span tens of thousands of units, if not more). So, the private Pakistani company speaking to Fire Point is looking to co-market and manufacture the FP-1 for this requirement.
Where the private offering would stand out is that if the Army commits to enough firm orders and permits re-exporting to third-party markets, then the private sector would absorb the cost of building the production capacity so that the Army is only on the hook for the actual cost of the drones. DIPRA is (again, on paper) interested in supporting these types of dynamics and, where possible, aiming to pull SOEs away from work that can be done more efficiently by the private sector. Likewise, some private companies are also designing their own stack of piston-powered OWAs, such as NaqCoDE Technologies’ NASR series.
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