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military of Pakistan
Military of Pakistan (Urdu: پاک عسکریÛ) is the principal defense organization of Pakistan. It consists of the:
Approximately 619,000 personnel are on active duty in the military which is the world's 7th largest armed force as of 2007. Combined with the 302,000 strong Paramilitary forces and the Coast Guard, the Military of Pakistan has a total size of nearly 1,000,000 personnel.
Pakistan's Military is a hierarchical organization, with a system of military ranks to denote levels of authority within the organization. The military service is divided into a professional officer corps along with a greater number of enlisted personnel who perform day-to-day military operations. The Pakistani officer corps is not restricted by social class or nobility and are appointed from a variety of sources such as service academies and direct appointment from both civilian status and the enlisted ranks.
The armed forces are highly respected in civil society and the social ranks as an institution. September 6 known as Defence Day commemorates the military’s role in defense of the nation.
The Pakistani Military is a completely volunteer force and has been involved in many conflicts with India. Combined with this rich combat experience, the Military is also actively involved in contributing to United Nations peacekeeping efforts. Other foreign deployments have consisted of Pakistani Military personnel as advisers in many African, South Asian and Arab countries. The Pakistani Military 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.
Contents
History
Before 1947, the Military of Pakistan was part of the Army of India, as the armed force was known as under the British Raj, fought in both the World Wars and the numerous Anglo-Afghan Wars. After Independence, the military was divided between India and Pakistan with a ratio of 64% going to India and 36% for Pakistan. Post-independence, it has fought three wars against India, several border skirmishes with Afghanistan, and an extended border skirmish with India in 1999 and is currently conducting anti-terrorist operations along the border areas of Afghanistan. The Military of Pakistan has participated in several United Nations peacekeeping operations and is presently one of the largest troops contributor to the UN force.
Organization and Command Structure
- Main article: Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Pakistan
The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee deals with all problems bearing on the military aspects of state security and is charged with integrating and coordinating the three services. In peacetime, its principal function is planning; in time of war, its chairman is the principal staff officer to the president in the supervision and conduct of the war. The secretariat of the committee serves as the principal link between the service headquarters and the Ministry of Defense in addition to coordinating matters between the services. The three branches within the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee deal with planning, training, and logistics. Affiliated with the committee are the offices of the engineer in chief, the director general of medical service, the director of inter-services intelligence, and the director of inter-services public relations.
Joint Chiefs of Staff
The 3 Service Chiefs together with the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff form the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
- General Ehsan ul Haq — Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff
- General Pervez Musharraf — Chief of Army Staff
- Admiral Muhammad Afzal Tahir — Chief of Naval Staff
- Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed — Chief of Air Staff
Personnel
Troop Strength
| Service | Total Active Duty Personnel | Total Reserve Personnel |
|---|---|---|
| Army | 550,000 | 513,000 |
| Navy | 24,000 | 5,000 |
| Air Force | 45,000 | 10,000 |
| Paramilitary Forces | 302,000 | 0 |
| Coast Guard | Classified | Classified |
| Total | 921,000 | 528,000 |
Uniforms
The standard uniform for the Pakistan Army is a mixture of a Greenish-Brown colored overalls but this has been recently transitioned to a camouflage pattern uniform which is standard for other armies of the world. The colors of the new camouflage pattern uniform depend on which geographical areas the troops operate so that they can blend in with the environment.
Rank Structure
The rank structure is also patterned on the British model. Following the British Indian tradition, there are three junior commissioned officer (JCO) grades between enlisted and officer rank for those who rise by promotion from among enlisted recruits. The junior commissioned officer is a continuation of the former viceroy's commissioned officer rank during the British colonial period. Promotion to JCO rank, however, remains a powerful incentive for enlisted personnel; thus, if JCO ranks are ever phased out, it will likely be a slow process.
Gallantry awards
- Nishan-i-Haider.jpg
- Hilal i Jurat.jpg
- Sitara e Jurat.jpg
- Tamgha i Jurat.jpg
- Nishan-i-Haider, Highest military decoration of Pakistan. Awarded "to those who have performed acts of greatest heroism or most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger and have shown bravery of the highest order or devotion to the country, in the presence of the enemy on land, at sea or in the air ..." [1]
- Hilal-i-Jurat
- Sitara-i-Jurat
- Tamgha-i-Jurat
Role of Religion
Template:OR General Zia-ul-Haq was instrumental in introducing Islam and Islamic practices into the Military. Alcoholic beverages were banned and mullah as chaplains were assigned to go into combat with troops. Mosques were built inside military bases and Islamic texts and courses on Islam were made compulsory for officers. The Military establishment rejected the idea of total war that emerged in Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as un-Islamic and emphasized verses from the Quran which sees force only as a last resort. The function of the military is seen less of a capability for combat but rather preventing wars by instilling fear in the heart of the enemies.[unverified]
However most officers consider religion a purely personal matter and relatively few Pakistani soldiers have turned to Islamic fundamentalism. Secular and western doctrines of warfare have been incorporated into the armed forces as the Generals know that modern land, sea and air combat tactics are not determined by religion.[unverified]Template:or
Foreign military relations
China
China 's relationship with Pakistan has often been regarded as all weather and time tested. This friendship for both the asian countries holds great importance and is priceless in terms of common interest and geo-strategic alliance initially, to counter the Indian and Soviet Union threat. In recent years the friendship has deepened even further, China has several defence treaties with Pakistan.
China has been a steady source of military equipment and has cooperated with Pakistan in setting up weapons production and modernization facilities. Within months of the 1965 and 1971 wars, China began to re-supply the depleted Pakistani forces.
The two countries are also actively involved in the joint-venture of several projects to enhance each others military needs which includes JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft, K-8 Karakorum advance training aircraft, Space technology, AWACS, Al Khalid tank, missiles and many other projects. The two countries also held several military exercises together to further deepen and enhance its cooperation between the two armed forces.
United States and NATO
Pakistan’s has had an on-again and off-again relationship with the United States. When relations were good, this meant access to funds, sophisticated weaponry and training. When relations were bad, it meant bitter disillusionment and the severing of support at critical junctures. These wide swings of fortune are something to which the Pakistanis have become accustomed, and they recognize that, whatever the provocation, the relationship with the United States has too much potential benefit to be discarded lightly. After the attacks of September 11, Pakistan received a huge increase in military aid from America. In the three years before the attacks of September 11, Pakistan received approximately $9 million in American military aid. In the three years after, the number increased to $4.2 billion[2].
France is also actively involved in building and maintaining an alliance with Pakistan within the defence industry. A key note of this defence alliance was the joint-venture of Agosta submarines for the Pakistan Navy and the Mirage fighter aircrafts for the Pakistan Air Force, being the largest operator of Mirage III and V aircrafts after the French Air Force.
Arab Countries
The Pakistani military's close ties to the nations of the Middle East are based on a combination of geography and shared religion. The closest ties are with Saudi Arabia--a sporadically generous patron; much of the equipment bought from the United States during the 1980s, for example, was paid for by the Saudis. The smaller Persian Gulf states also have been sources of important financial support. The flow of benefits has been reciprocated. Beginning in the 1960s, Pakistanis have been detailed as instructors and trainers in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Libya, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. Pakistani pilots, sailors, and technicians have played key roles in some Persian Gulf military forces, and Arabs have been trained both in their home countries and in military training establishments in Pakistan.
Iran & Turkey
Pakistan enjoyed strong military relations with Iran during the Shah era. Both Pakistan and Iran were in the American camp opposing the Soviet Union and its allies which included India. During the 1965 war of Pakistan with India the Shah provided free fuel to the Pakistani planes who used to land on Iranian soil, refuel and the take off. After the Iranian revolution, Pakistan was among the first countries to recognize the new Iranian government and continued to maintain strong military relations. Iran sent its Military officers and personnel to be trained in Pakistani academies when military and diplomatic ties with the USA was severed following the hostage taking of the US Embassy. Pakistan also helped give spare parts and other items to the largely American equipped Iranian Military. The relations began to deteriorate when the Soviet war in Afghanistan caused large number of Sunni foreign fighters to arrive in Pakistan. Their extremist views towards Shia caused tensions to rise between Sunni and Shia communities in Pakistan much to the discomfort of Iran. The Arab countries and USA pressured Pakistan to stop its military aid to Iran due to the Iraq-Iran War in which USA and Sunni Arab countries were backing Iraq. Iran was blamed for the rising ethnic tensions between Sunni and Shia because of Pakistan's support of Iraq during the Iraq-Iraq war. Relations continued to decline in the 1990s when with Pakistan's help, the Sunni extremist, Taliban came to power in Afghanistan. Iran and the Taliban almost went to war in 1997 over territorial and drug trafficking disputes. Throughout the 80s and 90s, Iran move closer to India.
After 9/11 and the overthrow of the Taliban, Pakistan and Iran have begun re-build their ties. Delegations have been exchanged, and Pakistan has sold military equipment to Iran. Pakistan also has military ties with Turkey and would like to use these, as well as its Iranian connections, as a bridge to the new Muslim states of Central Asia.
Nuclear Doctrine
- Main article: Nuclear Doctrine of Pakistan
The Pakistan military possesses nuclear weapons and sufficient means, through a range of missiles and aircraft — to deliver these over considerably long distances. However, unlike India, Pakistan does not have no-first-use policy and maintains the use of nuclear weapons as a deterrent to India to offset the large conventional advantage India enjoys over Pakistan.
Pakistan is not a part of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), citing concerns that it unfairly favours the established nuclear powers, and provides no provision for complete nuclear disarmament. The Strategic Nuclear Command forms part of Pakistan's National Command Authority which is responsible for the management of the country's tactical and strategic nuclear weapons.
- See also: Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction.
Military Intelligence
Pakistan's Military Intelligence (MI) is one of the three main intelligence services in Pakistan. MI is tasked with counter-insurgency operations, identifying and eliminating sleeper cells, foreign agents and other anti Pakistani elements within Pakistan. Additional functions involve monitoring high level military and political leaders and safe guarding critical facilities such as military and non-military installations. MI also has limited external role as well.
- See also: Inter-Services Intelligence.
Military Academies
Pakistan has some of the best military academies in Asia and many officer corps from Asian as well as some African and Eastern European countries attend Pakistan's Military Academies.
The Military Academies Are:
- College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering
- Army Medical College
- College of Flying Training
- Command and Staff College
- Military College of Engineering
- Military College of Signals
- Pakistan Air Force Academy
- Pakistan Military Academy
- Pakistan Navy Engineering College
Military Justice
The military justice system rests on three similar service laws: the Pakistan Army Act (1952), the Pakistan Air Force Act (1953), and the Pakistan Navy Ordinance (1961). The acts are administered by the individual services under the central supervision of the Ministry of Defense. The army has a four-tier system; the air force and navy, three-tier systems. The differences in tier levels reflect whether their competence extends to officers or enlisted men only and the severity of the punishment that may be imposed.
Civilian courts cannot question decisions handed down by the military court and double jeopardy is prohibited. In cases where a military person is alleged to have committed a crime against a civilian, the central government determines whether military or civilian courts have jurisdiction. Former servicemen in civilian life who are accused of felonies committed while on active duty are liable for prosecution under the jurisdiction of military courts. These courts are empowered to mete out a wide range of punishments including death. All sentences of imprisonment are served in military prisons or detention barracks.
Weapons industry
Pakistan began with virtually no military production capability. By 1951, Pakistan had created the Pakistan Ordinance Factory at Wah Cantonment, near Rawalpindi, to produce small arms, ammunition, and explosives. During the period of reliance on United States supply, there was little attention given to domestic production, but after the assistance cutoffs in 1965 and 1971, Pakistan relied on China's help to expand its facilities, including the modernization of Wah. The Heavy Industries at Taxila was established in 1971 as an equipment rebuilding facility, followed in 1973 by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex at Kamra, north of Islamabad. The air force assembled Chinese F-6s and French Mirages; produced the Mushak trainer, which was based on the Swedish SAAB Safari; maintained radar and avionics equipment; after the success of Mushak the Super Mushak and Karakoram-8 Advance jet state-of-art training platform were made.
The Ministry of Defense Production was created in September 1991 to promote and coordinate the patchwork of military production facilities that have developed since independence. The ministry also includes seven other specialized organizations devoted to research and development, production, and administration.
The navy is supported mainly by a facility at the Karachi Shipyard, which has limited production capacity. In 1987 development of a submarine repair and rebuild facility at Port Qasim was begun. By early 2000, in a joint project with China led to the development of the JF-17 Thunder fighter and the Al-Khalid Tank. Pakistan also has taken major steps to becoming self sufficient in aircraft overhaul and modernization and tank and helicopter sales and in a transfer of technology with France led to the construction of the Agosta B-90 Submarine in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
After the success of it's major developments in the defense industry the Defense Export Promotion Organization (D.E.P.O.) was created to promote Pakistani defense equipment to the world by inviting major and small players to the I.D.E.A.S. Exhibition, which is held annually at the Karachi expo center. In recent reports, the defense exports were worth over $500 million USD in 2006 and growing annually.
Budget
Faced with the problem of defense against a much larger enemy from a relatively limited resource base, the military claimed a large share of the nation's resources even to maintain a minimally effective defensive capability. The successive governments and the civilian population believed it necessary to support the armed forces as much as possible. From 1958 to 1973, the defense budget accounted for nearly 60% of the total government expenditures. Since 1973, this percentage has been reduced by half due to a growing economy, inflation, and foreign military aid. In 2006 Pakistan's Military expenditures were 5.01 Billion dollars, which is 3.2 percent of GDP.
Future Plans
Army
Throughout the International Defense Exhibition & Seminar (IDEAS) at Karachi in November 2006, Pakistani firms have signed joint development, production and marketing agreements with defense firms from South Korea, France and Ukraine. These agreements include new reactive armor bricks, 155 mm artillery shells, and other developments in armor and land weaponry. These agreements all relate to the Pakistan Army's AFFDP-2019 modernization program of its armor, 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 armor firm will participate in the Turkey's new generation tank project. Turkey and Pakistan have signed many memorandums of understanding in various defense-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.
- See also: Pakistan Army
Air Force
The main workhorse of the Pakistan Air Force from 2014 will be the JF-17 Thunder medium-tech, multi-role fighter aircraft; developed by Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation (CAC) in China and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) in Pakistan. At least 150 JF-17s are expected to be procured by the Pakistan Air Force by the end of 2015 but, this may easily go up to 300. The JF-17 Thunder is a 4th generation, medium-weight multi-role fighter aircraft capable of using various types of Beyond-Visual-Range (BVRAAM) Air-to-Air Missiles, Within-Visual-Range (WVRAAM) Air-to-Air Missiles and Air-to-Surface Precision-Guided Munitions (PGM).
In addition, to the JF-17s the PAF will also procure up to 50 Chengdu J-10 fighter aircraft from China, 96 (new and used) F-16 Fighting Falcons A/B/C/D Block-15 and Block-52+, 6 Saab 2000 Erieye AEW&C, 16 Air-to-Air Refueling Aircraft, 39+ K-8 Intermediate Jet Trainer and 12 C-130H w/6 reserve C-130H Medium Lift Transport Aircraft.
- See also: Pakistan Air Force
In 2005 Pakistan ordered four F-22P light frigates from China in a deal worth $600mn. The first is expected to be commissioned 2009[1] and the remainder by 2013. One of the F-22Ps will be built in the Karachi Shipyard. The F-22P is an improved version of the Type 053H3 Jiangwei II class light frigate, it has a displacement of at least 2500 tons. The first F-22P will be called PNS Zulfiqar, and thus become the Zulfiqar Class.
Plans to procure 4 used frigates were dropped in favour of 4 new-built corvettes. According to Turkish press the Pakistan Navy is reportedly interested in procuring the Milgem class corvettes from Turkey.
According to Jane's IDEAS2004 interview with former Pakistan Navy Chief ex-Admiral Kariumullah another four or so new frigates will be acquired. Kanwa recently reported that the Pakistan Navy has shown recent interest in the Chinese Type 054 frigate.
In mid-2006 the Pakistan Navy announced its requirement of three new SSK attack submarines to replace the two Agosta-70 submarines and rebuild its fleet - after retiring the 4 Daphne class. French naval firm DCN offered its latest export design - the Marlin SSK - which is based off the Scorpene SSK, but also uses technology from the Barracuda nuclear attack submarine. The German firm HDW offered the U-214 SSK. The Pakistan Navy has awarded the construction of the three SSKs to Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW).
Pakistan is also seeking to enhance its strategic strike capability by developing naval variants of the Babur cruise missile. The Babur cruise missile has a range of 500 km and is capable of using both conventional and nuclear warheads. Future developments of Babur include capability of being launched from submarines, surface combatants and aircraft, as well as range extension from 500 km to 1000 km.
- See also: Pakistan Navy
Notes
External links
- Defence Export Promotion Organisation
- I.D.E.A.S. Pakistan Defence Exhibition
- Pakistan Air weapons complex
- CIA World Factbook 2006
- Pakistan Defence News, Military Pictures, Defence Information and Discussions @ Pakistan Defence
- PAF Falcons Base
- Pakistan Military Consortium
- Pakistan Military Guide from GlobalSecurity.org
- JCO Ranks
- Rank insignia of the World
- BBC Pakistan Military Through the Ages
- The Fascist Army
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