Pakistan’s Rocket Force and the Future of Conventional Precision Strike
How ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, precision rockets, drones and networked intelligence could give Pakistan a new conventional option below the nuclear threshold.
The character of warfare is changing, and the future battlefield will increasingly be shaped by the ability to strike an adversary’s critical military infrastructure rapidly, precisely, and from a distance. Modern warfare is all about precision strikes, hitting your enemy from long distances and deep inside enemy territory with accuracy. The large scale use of ballistic and cruise missiles, along with suicide drones integrated with satellite guidance, is crucial for striking critical enemy installations, which, if not neutralized fast, could become detrimental to achieving your goals in the war. The ability to destroy an enemy’s command centers, airbases, logistics hubs, ammunition depots, and missile infrastructure can sometimes be more strategically important than capturing territory. The recent Ukraine-Russia war, the war between Iran and the USA, and the May conflict between Pakistan and India have shown the necessity of having a strong arsenal of rockets, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and suicide drones, but also integrating them with satellites for real-time guidance and targeting of enemy installations.
For Pakistan, the development of long-range conventional precision strike is closely linked to a fundamental strategic problem: how to respond to a major Indian conventional attack without immediately escalating to the nuclear level. The arch-rival India is a much bigger economic power, along with being a bigger military power, compared to Pakistan. The phenomenal economic growth of India since 1990 has led to a massive industrial base for India. Private Indian companies have entered the defense sector and are now producing defense equipment for the Indian Armed Forces. India had been investing in its missile arsenal for a really long time and understood the importance of long-range vectors way before Pakistan. India also used HEROP suicide drones to deadly effect against Pakistani Air Force bases and other sensitive facilities. All recent wars have shown that if your conventional deterrence and capability to strike deep into enemy territory is weak, your deterrence suffers and you are more prone to your enemy’s attacks.
A modern rocket force is not simply a collection of missiles; it is an integrated military system designed to locate, target, and destroy critical enemy assets at operational and strategic depth. Rocket Force is not limited to missiles, whether ballistic or cruise missiles, but these are just one part of the whole network. The network includes the use of satellites, electronic, HUMINT, OSINT, and other forms of intelligence to first identify the key enemy installations. After you have identified those installations, you use the same satellite guidance to strike your enemy with a barrage of missiles and suicide drones to neutralize and obliterate those facilities. The smooth integration of satellites, electronic surveillance, ISR, human intelligence, command-and-control structure, and long-range vectors into a single kill chain is key to achieving success and to responding to your enemy promptly before they can do the same to you.
Pakistan’s Fatah family of guided rockets represents an important movement towards a dedicated conventional precision-strike capability. Fatah 1 with a 140 KM range and Fatah II with a 400 KM range provide precise but cheap options to strike deep inside Indian territory. Since May, the Pakistan Army has also revealed Fatah III, which is a supersonic cruise missile with a range still classified, and Fatah IV, which is a 750 KM range subsonic cruise missile. Pakistan is also developing Fatah V. Through the sequential development of the Fatah-V, Fatah-VI, and subsequent iterations, Pakistan is steadily scaling its conventional strike architecture, with the landmark Fatah-V projected to transcend the 1,000 kilometer threshold to redefine the region’s deep-strike dynamics. These strikes will help Pakistan target crucial installations in India’s key urban centers with precision.
Pakistan is also working on developing conventional versions of its strategic ballistic missiles. The missiles, which are meant to carry out nuclear strikes, are also now going to soon have conventional counterparts in Pakistan’s Army new created rocket force. Pakistan Army is also working on developing supersonic and hypersonic cruise and ballistic missiles so they can penetrate India’s growing Air Defense network and hit the intended targets. Beyond its heavy missile programs, Islamabad’s quiet surge into the realm of ‘kamikaze’ drone warfare is altering regional calculations, arming its forces with low-cost, high-precision swarm potential designed to systematically overwhelm high-value targets. Pakistan recently revealed suicide drones like NASR and S-369, both with 1500 KM ranges are prime examples of it.
Modern wars are increasingly shifting toward non-contact warfare. However, the true lethality of Pakistan’s expanding missile and kamikaze drone arsenal ultimately hinges on structural enhancements to its C4ISR ecosystem, specifically through upgraded satellite integration, robust electronic warfare resilience, and real-time surveillance to ensure precise, uninterrupted targeting in contested environments. Pakistan should join hands with Turkiye and further increase its work with China on its space program to increase the number of spy and ISR satellites it has in space, along with improving electronic warfare, countermeasures, missile speed and range, and their ability to penetrate enemy defenses and reach their target without being intercepted. The faster you can identify, engage, and neutralize enemy bases, command centers, air defense batteries, and military production centers, the faster you will win the war, overpower your enemy, and defeat your enemy. The destruction of the enemy’s military infrastructure and support system is crucial for you to emerge as a victor in any modern conflict.