March 14, 2025: In late 2024 the United States imposed a sixth round of sanctions on a Pakistani firm and three Chinese companies involved in building more of the Shaheen 3 long-range ballistic missile. This system has been operational since 2015 with a range of 2,700 kilometers. Shaheen 3 can hit any military target in India. This was the sixth round of sanctions against Pakistan and the main target is Chinese support for Pakistani weapons programs. The sanctions are ignored by China and Pakistan. The ballistic missile program continues, as does American military aid to Pakistan.

For such a small and economically weak country Pakistan has many ballistic missile types in service. Their current defense budget is $7.6 billion. Defense now consumes 12.5 percent of the government budget and 1.7 percent of GDP. Pakistan uses deceptive budget practices, like not including military pensions and research efforts in the defense budget. To compare Pakistani spending to other nations, you must apply the same accounting standards. Doing that increases the official defense spending by 50 percent. The reality is that the military gets about a quarter of the government budget and over three percent of GDP. The military also owns a growing portion of the economy and Pakistan is often described as an army with a country attached.

Pakistan is one of the top ten military powers on the planet and the only Moslem majority country with nuclear weapons. Pakistan’s primary foe is India, which has more than six times the population and a much stronger economy and military

Decades of large defense budgets have made it possible for Pakistan to develop, manufacture and maintain a large and diverse ballistic missile force that includes:

Hatf 1 entered service in 1992 with a range of 70 kilometers and was upgraded three years later with a better rocket motor and range of 100 kilometers.

Abdali entered service in 2002 with a range of 150-190 kilometers, later upgraded to 280-450 kilometers depending on warhead size. Only uses non-nuclear warheads. Apparently based on the Chinese M11 missile which Pakistan bought a few of to study and improve the design of Pakistani solid fuel ballistic missiles.

Nasr entered service in 2013 with a range of 90 kilometers and is carried on a TEL vehicle that holds four of these 1.2-ton missiles.

Ghaznavi entered service in 2004 with a range of 300 kilometers.

Shaheen-I entered service in 2003 with a range of 750 kilometers, later upgraded to 1,000 kilometers. Weighing ten tons, it is launched from a TEL or from fixed locations.

Ghauri entered service in 2003 with a range of 1,400 kilometers and later upgraded to 1,800 kilometers. Uses a liquid fuel motor based on North Korean technology. A few are still in service as part of a program to develop longer range ballistic missiles.

Ababeel entered service in 2017 with a range of 2,200 kilometers and can carry a warhead with three or more nuclear warheads. Only a few were built and are used mainly to develop longer range ballistic missiles.

Shaheen 2, a solid fuel missile with a range of 2,000 kilometers, also entered service in 2015.

Shaheen 3, a solid fuel missile with a range of 2,700 kilometers, also entered service in 2015.

Ghaznavi and other short-range solid fuel missiles are basically replacements for older liquid fuel Scud missiles. Solid fuel makes it possible to quickly launch the missile. Solid fuel missiles are also cheaper to maintain and use smaller crews that do not require a lot of training.

Pakistan has also developed and put into several cruise missiles since 2007. These have ranges of up to 750 kilometers. India has acquired new air defense systems with some Ballistic Missile Defense or BMD capability as well as being more capable detecting the low and slow cruise missiles. India does not have enough BMD systems to protect more than a few major cities. Pakistan still has a lot of unprotected Indian targets for the ballistic missiles.