Pakistan Army

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The Pakistan Army (Urdu: پاک فوج) is the largest branch of the Pakistan military, and is responsible for protection of the state borders, the security of administered territories and defending the national interests of Pakistan within the framework of its international obligations. They must be able to achieve these goals both in nuclear warfare and conventional warfare.

The Pakistan Army, combined with the Navy and Air Force, makes Pakistan's armed forces the 7th largest military in the world. The Army is modelled on the United Kingdom armed forces and came into existence after the independence in 1947. It has an active force of 520,000 personnel and 500,000 men in reserve that continue to serve until the age of 45.

The Pakistani Army is a completely volunteer force and has been involved in many conflicts with India. Combined with this rich combat experience, the Army is also actively involved in contributing to United Nations peacekeeping efforts. Other foreign deployments have consisted of Pakistani Army personnel as advisors in many African, South Asian and Arab countries. The Pakistani Army maintained Division and brigade strength presences in some of the Arab countries during the past Arab-Israeli Wars, and the first Gulf War to help the Coalition. The Pakistani Army is led by the Chief of Army Staff, currently Pervez Musharraf, who is also the President of Pakistan.

Military of Pakistan

Military manpower[14]
Military age	16 years of age
Availability	39,028,014 (2005)
Males ages	16-49
Reaching military age	males: 1,969,055 (2005)
Active troops	620,000 (Ranked 7th)
Military expenditures[14]
Dollar figure	$4.26 billion (2005 est.)
Percent of GDP	3.9% (2005 est.)
Pakistan Armed Forces
Pakistan Army
Pakistan Air Force
Pakistan Navy
Pakistan Coast Guard
Personnel
Chiefs of Army Staff
Generals
Military history
Military history of Pakistan
Wars of Pakistan
Battles of Pakistan
Related topics
Weapons of mass destruction
Awards and decorations of the Pakistan military
Special Service Group
Inter-Services Intelligence

Contents 1 History of the Pakistani Army 2 Motto 3 Combat doctrine 4 Personnel training 4.1 Enlisted ranks 4.2 Officer ranks 5 Relief operations and economic development 6 Women and minorities in the Army 6.1 Women 6.2 Minorities 7 Organization 7.1 List of Chiefs of Army Staff 8 Structure of Army units 8.1 Corps 8.2 Other commanders 8.2.1 Major Generals 8.3 Rank structure and uniform insignia 9 Nishan-e-Haider 10 Special Forces 11 Weapons and equipment 11.1 Small arms 11.2 Mortars 11.3 Anti-tank guided weapons 11.4 Army Air Defence 12 Missiles 13 Future Plans 14 Notes 15 References 16 Further reading 17 See also 18 External links

[edit] History of the Pakistani Army

See also: Military history of Pakistan

The Pakistani army has played an integral part the Pakistan government and politics since its inception. It was created on June 30, 1947 with the division of the British Indian Army and Pakistan received six armoured, eight artillery and eight infantry regiments compared to the forty armoured, forty artillery and twenty one infantry regiments that went to India.^[1] Fearing that India would take over the disputed region of Kashmir, the newly created Pakistani Army sent in irregulars and tribal groups in 1947 which lead to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. Regular army units joined the invasion later on but were pushed back by the Indians but not before occupying the northwestern part of Kashmir (roughly 40% of Kashmir). During the 1950s, the Pakistani Army received great deal of economic and military aid from USA and UK after signing the Mutual Defense Agreement in 1954. This aid greatly expanded the Army from its modest beginnings but only at the cost of dependency on foreign aid and by siphoning funds from development activity.

The Army seized control of Pakistan for the first time when General Ayub Khan who came to power through a bloodless coup in 1958. Tensions with India continued in the 1960s and a brief border skirmish near the Rann of Kutch area on April 1965 where the Indian Army was caught unprepared emboldened Army leaders to carry out Operation Gibraltar, a covert infiltration attempt in Kashmir was launched later in the year. The Indian Army became aware of the plan and a full-fledged war across the international border (Indo-Pakistani War of 1965) broke out. The Army fought superbly in the initial phases of the war but with the onset of U.S. Military Sanctions could not continue the conflict indefinitely as India's conventional advantage was beginning to give way. The War ended in a U.N. mandated ceasefire. General Ayub Khan stepped down and General Yahya Khan assumed power in 1969.

An unrest broke out in East Pakistan and there had been reports of many human rights abuses carried out by the Army to quell the uprising by the East Pakistanis in what is known as Pakistani Civil War. India later joined the War on East Pakistan's side and the war ended in a disaster as 90,000 Pakistani Soldiers surrendered and East Pakistan separated from Pakistan to become Bangladesh.

After the 1971 war the democratic setup was restored only to be cut short in 1977 after a coup which saw the end of another democratically elected government and the Hanging of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the Pakistani Premier. General Zia ul-Haq ruled as a dictator virtually unopposed until his death in 1988. Despite the exit of the army from mainstream politics, the political muscle of the Army was ever present. In the mid-1970s the Pakistani Army was involved trying to put down civil disorder in Baluchistan as the Baluchis wanted greater provincial rights from the federal government. The rebellion was put down but the Army suffered heavy casualties.

With the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the United States began to provide large scale military and economic aid to Pakistan to modernize its conventional defensive capability and to prevent any further Soviet attacks on it and, more importantly, on Afghanistan. The United States allocated about 40% of its assistance package to non-reimbursable credits for military purchases, the third largest program after Israel and Egypt. The remainder of the aid program was devoted to economic assistance.

After the Soviets withdrew by 1989 and the Pakistani Nuclear weapons program nearing maturity, Pakistan was placed under sanctions by USA in 1990. Various weapon systems ordered by Pakistan such as F-16 Jets were not delivered but various amendments have authorized return of spare parts and end items already paid for by Pakistan. There was a period of international sanctions due to Pakistan's nuclear tests and the military coup that placed additional sanctions on Pakistan.

The Army fought a brief but bloody border skirmish with India in Kargil 1999 whose aim was to bring the Kashmiri dispute to the international forefront. But International pressure forced Pakistan to withdraw its forces from the region. Many Pakistanis saw this as a betrayal by the civilian government lead by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. In October 1999, the current President, General Pervez Musharraf, came to power in a bloodless coup overthrowing the last democratically elected government. Musharraf had pledged to step down as Army chief in 2005 however he changed his mind, now he has indicated that he may step down as Army chief in 2007 and hold democratic elections. Currently there is a democratically elected parliament.

Since the 9/11 incident, Pakistan has become a key ally of USA in the fight against terrorism, especially in ousting Taliban from neighboring Afghanistan. As part of President George W. Bush's War on Terrorism, the army has moved over 50,000 troops across the afghan border to patrol against extreme elements and fight insurgents

[edit] Motto

The motto of the Pakistani Army reads: "Iman, Taqwa, Jihad fi Sabilillah". Translated into English, it means "Faith, Piety, Striving in the path of Allah (Arabic for God)".

[edit] Combat doctrine

Pakistani Army has espoused a doctrine of limited "offensive-defense" which it has tried to refine consistently ever since 1989 when it was pushed out to the formations during "Exercise Zarb-e-Momin". The main purpose of this strategy is to launch a sizeable offensive into enemy territory rather than wait to be hit from the enemy's offensive attack. The doctrine is based on the premise that while on the offensive, the enemy can be kept off-balance while allowing Pakistani Army to be able to seize enemy territory of strategic importance which can be used as a bargaining chip on the negotiating table. In order to do this, currently Pakistani Army maintains two sizeable strike Corps which will be backed up by holding Corps forming the defensive tier behind the strike corps. By pushing the offensive into the enemy territory, the Pakistani Army hopes to consolidate its gains inside the enemy's territory and will attempt to keep the war on the enemy side of the border rather than giving ground on the Pakistani side.

In the 1990s, the Army created a strong centralized corps of reserves for its formations in the critical semi-desert and desert sectors in southern Punjab and Sindh provinces. These new formations were rapidly equipped with assets needed for mechanized capability. These reserve formations are dual-capable, meaning they can be used for offensive as well as defensive (holding) purposes.

Pakistan, today has a 45 day reserve of ammunition and fuel as compared to only 13 days in 1965 and has fairly effective and efficient lines of communication and can fully mobilize its formations in less than 96 hours owing to the lack of depth in the country's North South axis.

[edit] Personnel training

[edit] Enlisted ranks

Most enlisted personnel used to come from rural families, and many have only rudimentary literacy skills, but with the increase in the litracy level the requirments have been raised to Matriculate level(10th Grade). Recruits are processed gradually through a paternalistically run regimental training center, taught the official languages, Urdu and English if necessary, and given a period of elementary education before their military training actually starts.

In the thirty-six-week training period, they develop an attachment to the regiment they will remain with through much of their careers and begin to develop a sense of being a Pakistani rather than primarily a member of a tribe or a village. Enlisted men usually serve for eighteen years, during which they participate in regular training cycles and have the opportunity to take academic courses to help them advance.

[edit] Officer ranks

About 320 men enter the army bi-annually through the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul in Abbottabad in the North West Frontier Province; a small number--especially physicians and technical specialists--are directly recruited, and these persons are part of the heart of the officer corps. The product of a highly competitive selection process, members of the officer corps have completed twelve years of education and spend two years at the Pakistan Military Academy, with their time divided about equally between military training and academic work to bring them up to a baccalaureate education level, which includes English-language skills.

The army has twelve other training establishments, including schools concentrating on specific skills such as infantry, artillery, intelligence, or mountain warfare. A National University of Science and Technology(NUST) has been established which has absorbed the existing colleges of engineering, signals, and electrical engineering. At the apex of the army training system is the Command and Staff College at Quetta, one of the few institutions inherited from the colonial period. The college offers a ten-month course in tactics, staff duties, administration, and command functions through the division level. Students from foreign countries, including the United States, have attended the school but reportedly have been critical of its narrow focus and failure to encourage speculative thinking or to give adequate attention to less glamorous subjects, such as logistics.

The senior training institution for all service branches is the National Defence College. Originally established in 1971 at Rawalpindi, to provide training in higher military strategy for senior officers, the school house was relocated to Islamabad in 1995. It also offers courses that allow civilians to explore the broader aspects of national security. In a program begun in the 1980s to upgrade the intellectual standards of the officer corps and increase awareness of the wider world, a small group of officers, has been detailed to academic training, achieving master's degrees and even doctorates at universities in Pakistan and abroad.

Pakistani officers were sent abroad during the 1950s and into the 1960s for training in Britain and other Commonwealth countries, and especially to the United States, where trainees numbering well in the hundreds attended a full range of institutions ranging from armored and infantry schools to the higher staff and command institutions. After 1961 this training was coordinated under the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program, but numbers varied along with vicissitudes in the United States-Pakistan military relationship. Of some 200 officers being sent abroad annually in the 1980s, over two-thirds went to the United States, but the cessation of United States aid in 1990 entailed suspension of the IMET program. In 1994 virtually all foreign training was in Commonwealth countries. However, after the 9/11 attacks, Pakistan again has begun sending officers to US Army schools. Today there are more than 400 officers serving in foreign countries.

Officers retire between the ages of fifty-two and sixty, depending on their rank.

[edit] Relief operations and economic development

In times of natural disaster, such as the great floods of 1992 or the October 2005 devastating earthquake, army engineers, medical and logistics personnel, and the armed forces played a major role in bringing relief and supplies.

The army also engaged in extensive economic activities. Most of these enterprises, such as stud and dairy farms, were for the army's own use, but others performed functions beneficial to the local civilian economy. Army factories produced such goods as sugar, fertilizer, and brass castings and sold them to civilian consumers.

Several army organizations performed functions that were important to the civilian sector across the country. For example, the National Logistics Cell was responsible for trucking food and other goods across the country; the Frontier Works Organization built the Karakoram Highway to China; and the Special Communication Organization maintained communications networks in remote parts of Pakistan.

Fauji Foundation is a pension fund of the Pakistan Army. It has invested in industial and commercial projects. The Fauji Foundation manages hundreds of educational institutions, power plants, steel and cement factories, and produces consumer goods like sugar, electronic items and breakfast cereals. Fauji Foundation is a charitable trust for the welfare of ex-servicemen and their families.

[edit] Women and minorities in the Army

[edit] Women

Women have served in the Pakistani Army since its foundation. Currently, there is a sizable number of Women serving in the army. Most women are recruited in the regular Army to perform medical and educational work. There is also a Women's Guard section of Pakistan's National Guard where women are trained in nursing, welfare and clerical work and there are also women recruited in very limited numbers for the Janbaz Force. Only recently has Pakistan began to recruit women for combat positions and the Elite Anti-Terrorist Force recently graduated women candidates to be Sky Marshals for Pakistan based airlines.^[2] In addition recently eight of the 41 cadets from the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul became the first women guards of honour.^[3] Pakistan is the only country in the Islamic world to have women Major Generals in the Army.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Minorities

Recruitment is nationwide and the army attempts to maintain an ethnic balance but most enlisted recruits, as in British times, come from a few districts in northern Punjab Province and the adjacent North West Frontier Province. Pakistan's Officer Corps are also mostly from Punjab and the North West Frontier Province and of middle-class, rural backgrounds. This has caused some resentment to the other ethnic groups in Pakistan especially when the Army conducts operation in those areas where Punjabis are not a majority. The army has been criticized by the locals for lacking ethnic sensitivity. Efforts have been undertaken to recruit more ethnic groups such as Sindhis, and Balochis into the Pakistani Army.

Minorities in Pakistan are allowed to sit in all examinations, including the one conducted by Inter Services Selection Board however the proportion of religious minorities in the Pakistan army is still considerably very less.The first Sikh officer was recently inducted into the army and is expected to set the tone for future recruitment for minorities.^[4] The Pakistan army also recruited a Hindu for the first time in its 60-year-old history. ^[5] The army sees itself as a national institution and thus many non-muslim officers (including Qadiyanis) have achieved high ranks within the army^[6]. However security clearences can still be an issue.

[edit] Organization

The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), formerly called the Commander in Chief (C in C), is challenged with the responsibility of commanding the Pakistani Army. The COAS operates from army headquarters in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad. The Principal Staff Officers assisting him in his duties at the Lieutenant General level include a Chief of General Staff (CGS), who supervises the day to day running of the army, Director General Military Operations (DGMO), responsible for the overall operational planning; the Master General of Ordnance (MGO); the Quarter-Master General (QMG); the Adjutant General (AG); the Inspector General of Training and Evaluation (IGT&E); and the Military Secretary (MS). The headquarters function also includes the Judge Advocate General (JAG), and the Comptroller of Civilian Personnel, the Chief of the Corps of Engineers (E-in-C)who is also head of Military Engineering Service (MES), all of them also report to the Chief of the Army Staff.

[edit] List of Chiefs of Army Staff

1. General Sir Frank Messervy (August 15, 1947 - February 10, 1948)
2. General Sir Douglas David Gracey (February 11, 1948 - January 16, 1951)
3. Field Marshal Ayub Khan (January 16, 1951 - October 26, 1958)
4. General Musa Khan (October 27, 1958 - June 17, 1966)
5. General Yahya Khan (June 18, 1966 – December 20, 1971)
6. General Gul Hassan (December 20, 1971 - March 3, 1972)
7. General Tikka Khan (March 3, 1972 – March 1, 1976)
8. General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (April 1, 1976 - August 17, 1988)
9. General Mirza Aslam Beg (August 17, 1988 - August 16, 1991)
10. General Asif Nawaz (August 16, 1991 - January 8, 1993)
11. General Wahid Kakar (January 8, 1993 - December 1, 1996)
12. General Jehangir Karamat (December 1, 1996 - October 6, 1998)
13. General Pervez Musharraf (October 7, 1998–present)

^[7]

[edit] Structure of Army units

The Pakistani Army is divided into two main branches which are Arms and Services. Arms include infantry, artillery, armor, engineers, and communications and Services includes ordnance Corps, maintenance and repair Corps, electrical and mechanical engineering corps, supply&transport corps, education corps, military police corps, and the remount, veterinary, and farm corps.

Army Unit	Number of Units
Corps	10
Infantry Divisions	19
Artillery Divisions	2
Aviation Squadrons	17
2 Special forces Brigades with 5 Battalions	1
Armored Recce Regiment	3
Independent Mechanical Infantry Brigades	6
Independent Armoured brigades	7
Artillery Brigades	9
Air Defence Command with 3 Air Defence Groups, 8 AD Brigades	1
Engineer brigades	7
Armoured divisions	2

• Corps: A Corp in the Pakistani Army usually consists of two or more Divisions and is commanded by a lieutenant general. Currently the Pakistani Army has 9 Corps. The tenth one is the recently raised Army Strategic Force Command (ASFC), responsible for bearing the national strategic and nuclear assets. Initially a Division, but then raised to the status of a Corps.
• Division: Each division is commanded by a major general, and usually holds three Brigades including infantry, artillery, engineers and communications units in addition to logistics (supply and service) support to sustain independent action. Except for the Divisions operating in the mountains, all the Divisions have at least one armoured unit, some have even more depending upon their functionality. The most major of all ground force combat formations is the infantry division. Such a division would primarily hold three infantry brigades. There are 19 Infantry divisions, 2 Armored Divisions and 1 Artillery Division in the Pakistani Army.
• Brigade: A Brigade is under the command of a brigadier and comprises three or more Batalions of different units depending on its functionality. An independent brigade would be one that primarily consists of an artillery unit, an infantry unit, an armour unit and logisitics to support its actions. Such a brigade is not part of any division and is under direct command of a corps.
• Battalion: Each battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and has roughly 600 to 900 soldiers under his command. This number varies depending on the functionality of the battalion. A battalion comprises either four batteries (in case of artillery and air defence regiments - generally named Papa, Quebec, Romeo, and Sierra) or four companies (in case of infantry regiments - generally named Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta - and other arms excluding armored units that are organized into squadrons) each under the command of a major and comprising of individual subunits called sections (which are further divisible into platoons and squads).^[8]

[edit] Corps

There are 9 Corps at various garrisons along with a Paramilitary Corp Command:

Corps	HQ Location	Major Formations under Corps	Commander
I Corps	Mangla, Punjab	6th Armored Division, 17th Infantry Division, 37th Infantry Division	Lieutenant General Sajjad Akram[9]
II Corps	Multan, Punjab	1st Armored Division, 2nd Artillery Division, 40th Infantry Division	Lieutenant General Sikandar Afzal[9]
IV Corps	Lahore, Punjab	10th Infantry Division, 11th Infantry Division	Lieutenant General Shafaatullah Shah[10]
V Corps (Reserve)	Karachi, Sindh	16th Infantry Division, 18th Infantry Division	Lieutenant General Ahsan Azhar Hayat[9]
X Corps	Rawalpindi, Punjab	12th Infantry Division, 19th Infantry Division, 23rd Infantry Division	Lieutenant General Tariq Majeed
XI Corps	Peshawar, North West Frontier Province	7th Infantry Division 9th Infantry Division	Lieutenant General Hamid Khan
XII Corps	Quetta, Balochistan	41st Infantry Division, 33rd Infantry Division	Lieutenant General Hamid Rab Nawaz[11]
XXX Corps	Gujranwala, Punjab	8th Infantry Division, 15th Infantry Division	Lieutenant General Wasim Ahmed Ashraf
XXXI Corps (Reserve)	Bhawalpur, Punjab	35th Infantry Division, 14th Infantry Division	Lieutenant General Imtiaz Hussain[12]
Northern Area Command	Gilgit, Northern Areas	force command northern area

*XI and XII Corps have both lost divisions to other Corps and as such have begun raising 2 more divisions to make them viable Corps. The new divisions are still being build up but as of yet, no name has been assigned to them.

[edit] Other commanders

• General Ahsan Saleem Hayat — Vice Chief of Army Staff, GHQ-Rawalpindi.
• Lieutenant General Syed Athar Ali - Director General of Joint Staff at Joint Staff Headquarters.
• Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmad - Deputy Chairman of Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA)
• Lieutenant General Muhammad Zakki — Director of Inter-Services Intelligence
• Lieutenant General Salahuddin Satti — Chief of General Staff, GHQ-Rawalpindi.
• Lieutenant General Afzal Janjua — Quartermaster General, GHQ-Rawalpindi.
• Lieutenant General Mushtaq Ahmed Baig — Surgeon General, GHQ-Rawalpindi.
• Lieutenant General Israr Ahmed Ghumman — Director General Heavy Industries Taxila, Taxila.
• Lieutenant General Syed Sabahat Hussain-Chairman of the Pakistan Ordinance Factory, Wah
• Lieutenant General Khalid Ahmed Kidwai — Director General Strategic Planning Division, Rawalpindi.
• Lieutenant General Mohammed Sabir — Director General Military Services, GHQ-Rawalpindi.
• Lieutenant General Masud Aslam — Director General ITNE, GHQ-Rawalpindi.
• Lieutenant General Ijaz Ahmed Bakhshi - DG W&E, GHQ Rawalpindi.

[edit] Major Generals

• Major General Shaukat Sultan — Director General Inter Services Public Relations, GHQ-Rawalpindi.
• Major General Fazl-e-Elahi — Director General Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, GHQ-Rawalpindi.
• Major General Ahmed Shuja Pasha — Director General Military Operations, GHQ-Rawalpindi.
• Major General Shujaat Zamir Dar — Inspector General Frontier Corps, NWFP .
• Major General Raheel Sharif — General Officer Commanding, 11th Infantry Division, IV Corps, Lahore.
• Major General Mustafa Kausar — General Officer Commanding, 10th Infantry Division, IV Corps, Lahore.
• Major General Tariq— General Officer Commanding, 1st Armoured Division, under 2 Corps, Multan.
• Major General Athar Abbass — General Officer Commanding, 6th Armoured Division, under 1 Corps, Kharian.
• Major General Nadeem Taj — Commandant Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul, Abbottabad, NWFP.
• Major General Akram Sahi — Commandant Infantry School Quetta, Balochistan.
• Major General Khalid Nawaz — Commandant Staff College, Quetta, Balochistan.
• Major General Khalid Shamim — Vice Deputy Chief of General Staff, GHQ-Rawalpindi.
• Major General Saleem Nawaz — Director General RAB, Quetta, Balochistan.
• Major General Agha Farooq — Director General Army Structuring Committee.
• Major General Tahir Saeed — Deputy Quartermaster General, GHQ-Rawalpindi.
• Major General Saleem Nawaz Mela — Managing Director Passco, Rawalpindi.
• Major General Hamid Mahmud — Commandant Military College of Signals (MCS), Ordnance Road, Rawalpindi.
• Major General Kamran Aziz — Commandant College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (EME), Peshawar Road, Rawalpindi.
• Major General Wajahat Muftee — Director General Military Lands and Cantonments, Ministry of Defence, Rawalpindi.
• Major General Javed Zia — Director General Sindh Rangers, Shahrah-e-Faisal, Karachi.
• Major General Hussain Mehdi — Director General Punjab Rangers, Lahore.
• Major General Tariq Mahmood - Commandant Military College of Engineers, Risalpur Cantt
• Major General Zaheer Islam — General Officer Commanding, 12th Infantry Division, under X Corps, Murree.
• Major General Mohammed Farooq — Director General Artillery GHQ-Rawalpindi.
• Major General Mohammad Ashraf Saleem - Commander Army Air Defence Command.

[edit] Rank structure and uniform insignia

Pakistani Officer Ranks
Rank	Field Marshal (5-Star)	General (4-Star)	Lieutenant General (3-Star)	Major General (2-Star)	Brigadier (1-Star)	Colonel	Lieutenant Colonel	Major	Captain	Lieutenant	2nd Lieutenant
NATO equivalent	OF-10	OF-9	OF-8	OF-7	OF-6	OF-5	OF-4	OF-3	OF-2	OF-1	OF-1
Uniform insignia

Pakistani Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and Enlisted Ranks
Rank	Subedar Major (JCO)	Subedar (JCO)	Naib Subedar (JCO)	Battalion Havildar Major	Battalion Quartermaster Havildar	Company Havildar Major	Company Quatermaster Havildar	Havildar	Naik	Lance Naik	Jawan
NATO equivalent	None	None	None	OR-9	OR-8	OR-8	OR-7	OR-5/6	OR-4	OR-3	OR-1/2
Uniform insignia											No Insignia

[edit] Nishan-e-Haider

The Nishan-e-Haider (Urdu: نشان حیدر) (Sign of the Lion), is the highest military award given by Pakistan.

Recipients Nishan-e-Haider recipients receive an honorary title as a sign of respect: Shaheed meaning martyr for deceased recipients and Ghazi meaning victor for living recipients.

1. Captain Muhammad Sarwar Shaheed (1910–July 27, 1948)
2. Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed (1914–August 7, 1958)
3. Major Raja Aziz Bhatti Shaheed (1928–September 10, 1965)
4. Major Muhammad Akram Shaheed (1938–1971)
5. Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas Shaheed(Air Force) (1951–August 20, 1971)
6. Major Shabbir Sharif Shaheed (1943–December 6, 1971)
7. Jawan Sowar Muhammad Hussain Shaheed (1949–December 10, 1971)
8. Lance Naik Muhammad Mahfuz Shaheed (1944–December 17, 1971)
9. Captain Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed (1970–July 5, 1999)
10. Lalak Jan Shaheed (1967–July 7, 1999)

[edit] Special Forces

Main article: Special Services Group

Special Service Group or SSG is an Independent Commando unit of the Pakistani Army, the commander of which reports directly to the CoAS. It is an elite commando force similar to the American Green Berets. Official numbers are put at 2,100 men, in 3 Battalions; however the actual strength is classified and as of 2004 has been increased to 5 Battalions, with the formation of 2 Brigades of Special Forces (typically these two brigades will have a total of 6 Battalions).

[edit] Weapons and equipment

[edit] Small arms

• Heckler & Koch MP5 9 mm carbines and the Carbine 1A 9 mm sub-machine guns*
• Machine Gun MG-3*
• SMG PK, Type 1 & 2*
• Automatic Rifle G-3, Types A3 & P4*
• Anti Aircraft Machine Gun 12.7 mm, Type 54*
• Steyr SSG-4 and SSG-P2 (sniper rifles)*
• M-82 anti material rifle
• AK-47 (currently being phased out)*
• Type 81 Assault Rifle
• M-4A1 (only in service with SF)

*All Pakistani small arms are indigenously produced

Pakistan Army Inventory

Vehicle/System/Aircraft	Firm Number in Service	Status
Al Khalid II Main Battle Tank	-	Under Development to replace T-59 & T-85IIAP
T-84 Main Battle Tank	600	In service.
MBT-2000 Al Khalid Main Battle Tank	600[13]	In Service; Currently under production
T-85IIAP Main Battle Tank	500	In Service. Being phased out
Al Zarrar Tank (T-59 Upgrade) Main Battle Tank	320	Currently under production
T-69IIAP (Chinese T-59 Upgrade)	250	Being phased out by Al Khalid
T-63 & 60 Light Tank	100	Being phased out
T-59	1200	Being phased out by AL Zarrar & Al Khalid II
M-48	???	Being phased out by Al Khalid
Hamza Infantry fighting Vehicle	???	Being procured
Al-Fahd Infantry fighting vehicle	140	In Service
Talha Armoured Personnel Carrier	400+	Final number to be around 2,000
Saad Armoured Personnel Carrier	???	Currently in production
M113 Armoured Personnel Carrier	1500+	In Service
BTR-70 Armoured Personnel Carrier	169	In Service
Mohafiz Light Armoured Personnel Carrier	???	In Service & Additional APCs being procured
Scorpion Light Armoured Personnel Carrier	35	In Service
Al Qaswa Logistical Vehicle	??	Being procured
M109A5 155 mm Self-Propelled Howitzer	???	115 Ordered along with 150 A5 upgrade kits
M109A2 155 mm Self-Propelled Howitzer	150	In Service
M110A2 203 mm Self-Propelled Howitzer	40	In Service
M-7 105 mm Self-Propelled Howitzer	50	In Service
T-56 85 mm Towed Artillery	200	In Service
M-56 105 mm Towed Artillery	80	In Service
M-101 105 mm Towed Artillery	300	In Service
T-60 122 mm Towed Artillery	200	In Service
T-54 122 mm Towed Artillery	400	In Service
T-59I 130 mm Towed Artillery	200	In Service
M-59 155 mm Towed Artillery	30	In Service
M-114 155 mm Towed Artillery	60	In Service
M-198 155 mm Towed Artillery	120	In Service
M-115 203 mm Towed Artillery	40	In Service
New Generation Attack Helicopter	-	Approx. 30 Planned
AH-1F/S Cobra Attack Helicopter	70	In Service w/12 recently delivered
Bell 412 Huey Transport Helicopter	26	In Service
Bell 206 Jet Ranger Transport Helicopter	5	In Service
UH-1 Huey Transport Helicopter	10	In Service
Puma Transport Helicopter	20	In Service
Mil Mi-17 Transport Helicopter	42	Additional helicopters planned
Bell 407 Light Transport Helicopter	??	40 On Order
Eurocopter AS-550 Light Transport Helicopter	??	Replacing Alouette III & Lama
Aerospatiale Alouette III Light Transport Helicopter	??	Being phased out
Lama Light Transport Helicopter	??	Being phased out

[edit] Mortars

• (Type) 81 mm
• AM- 50 & M- 61 Series 120 mm
• Type 63-1

[edit] Anti-tank guided weapons

• Milan ATGM
• TOW ATGM
• TOW II (recently procured)
• Bakter-Shikan ATGM

[edit] Army Air Defence

• AA guns ZU-23/33 30, 36, 37 mm
• SAMs CROTALEs
• RBS-70
• SAM-7
• Stinger Missiles
• Redeye
• Anza mk II.

[edit] Missiles

• Hatf-I
• Hatf-II (Abdali-I)
• Hatf-III (Ghaznavi)
• M-11
• Ghaznavi
• Hatf-V (Ghauri I)
• Hatf-V (Ghauri II) carry Conventional and Nuclear
• Ghauri-III Ballistic missile Range 4,000 km
• Shaheen I
• Shaheen II
• Shaheen III
• Babur missile

It has been recently reported by the Pakistani Press (Daily Jang) that Pakistan has the ability to MIRV its missiles. This has been seen as possibly the greatest achievement to date. It has also been reported that Pakistan would likely MIRV its Shaheen II missile.

[edit] Future Plans

Throughout the International Defence Exhibition & Seminar (IDEAS) at Karachi in November 2006, Pakistani firms have signed joint development, production and marketing agreements with defence firms from South Korea, France and Ukraine. These agreements include new reactive armour bricks, 155 mm artillery shells, and other developments in armour and land weaponry. These agreements all relate to the Pakistan Army's AFFDP-2019 modernization program of its armour, artillery and infantry.

A few months prior to IDEAS 2006, the Pakistan Army and Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) announced the development of the Al Khalid II Main Battle Tank (MBT). The Al Khalid II is poised to become the Pakistan Army's backbone main battle tank from 2012; thus replacing 1200 obsolete Chinese T-59 and 300 T-85IIAP. Not much is known about this tank, but it is reported that the Al Khalid II is a very extensive upgrade of the current Al Khalid. Other reports suggest that it will be an entirely new tank that is based off Western designs. Turkish press reported that a Pakistani armour firm will participate in the Turkey's new generation tank project. Turkey and Pakistan have signed many memorandums of understanding in various defence-related fields. Given that many Pakistani firms have signed joint agreements with Western firms, it is possible that a considerable part of the Al Khalid II's design will be influenced from the Turkish tank design. Nonetheless, the new generation tank is expected to form the backbone of the Pakistan Army's tank force; in the long-term.

The Pakistan Army will standardize its artillery capability to 155 mm by 2019. This can be seen by the acquisition of 115 M109A5 self-propelled howitzers from the United States, and joint production deals of 155 mm shells with French and South Korean firms. It is expected that the army will procure a range of light, medium and heavy towed and self-propelled howitzer artillery from China, Europe and the United States. These will replace all non-155mm and older systems. The Army reportedly ordered and procured an undisclosed number of WS-1B Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS). As part of the artillery modernization program, the Army will likely procure a fair number of new MLRS systems of various ranges and shell sizes.

Modernization of the Army Aviation is underway with the procurement of new transport and attack helicopters from the United States, Russia and Europe. Finalized acquisitions include 26 Bell 412EP and at least a dozen Mi-17 medium-lift transport helicopters from the U.S and Russia, respectively. 40 Bell 407 and an unknown number of Fennec light helicopters from the U.S and Eurocopter have also been ordered, respectively. Plans are underway to begin replacing the Eurocopter Puma, older Mil Mi-8/17, Bell Jet Rangers and older Huey helicopters; options include the Eurocopter NH-90 Tactical Transport Helicopter and UH-60M Blackhawk. The Pakistan Army procured dozens of excess AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters since 2002; at least 52 have been brought into service to supplement the serving 18. The army reportedly has upgraded its entire fleet with AH-1Z King Cobra avionics and new weapon systems such as the TOW-2 and Hellfire missiles. Up to 30 new-generation attack helicopters will be procured to further enhance the Army's attack aviation arm; options include the Eurocopter Tiger, South African AH-2 Rooivalk and Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Talbot, Ian. Pakistan: A Modern History. Retrieved on 2006-04-10.
2. ^ " Pakistan Female Sky Marshalls". Retrieved on 2007-01-21.
3. ^ " Pakistan Female honour guards". Retrieved on 2007-01-21.
4. ^ "Sikh cadet in Pakistan army". Retrieved on 2007-01-21.
5. ^ "Pakistan army recruits Hindu cadet". Retrieved on 2007-01-21.
6. ^ "Ahmadis in Pakistan army". Retrieved on 2007-01-21.
7. ^ " List of Chief of army staff". Retrieved on 2007-01-21.
8. ^ " Subdivisions of the army". Retrieved on 2007-01-21.
9. ^ ^{a b c} Imran, Muhammed. Multan and Karachi corps commanders replaced. Retrieved on 2006-05-05.
10. ^ Veterans a source of pride, says Lahore corps commander. Retrieved on 2006-05-05.
11. ^ Musharraf in Quetta today. Retrieved on 2006-05-05.
12. ^ Lt-Gen Imtiaz New Bahawalpur Corps Commander. Retrieved on 2006-05-05.
13. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Khalid

[edit] References

• Jane's Defence Weekly
• A History of the Pakistan Army, third edition, by Brian Cloughley, published by Oxford University Press (UK) 26 January 2007

[edit] Further reading

• An Army, Its Role and Rule: A History of the Pakistan Army from Independence to Kargil, 1967 - 1999

[edit] See also

• 20FF - 20th Frontier Force
• List of countries with nuclear weapons
• Nuclear power
• Nuclear power in Pakistan
• Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction
• Special Service Group
• Military of Pakistan
• Fauji Foundation

[edit] External links

• Pakistan Defence News, Military Pictures, Defence Information and Discussions @ Pakistan Defence
• Inter Services Public Relations - Pak Army
• Global Security
• Pakistan Army details
• Pashtuns in Pakistan Army
• First Sikh of Pakistan Army