| Country: |
Pakistan |
| Associated Country: |
France, People's Republic of China |
| Class: |
BSRBM |
| Basing: |
Road mobile |
| Length: |
6.00 m |
| Diameter: |
0.56 m |
| Launch Weight: |
1500 kg |
| Payload: |
Single warhead, 500 kg |
| Warhead: |
HE, chemical, submunitions |
| Propulsion: |
Single-stage solid |
| Range: |
Hatf-1 - 70 km; Hatf 1A/B - 100 km |
| Status: |
Operational |
| In Service: |
1992 (Hatf-1); 1995 (Hatf-1A); 2004 (Hatf-1B) |
Details
The Hatf-1 is a short-range, road mobile, solid propellant ballistic missile. There are three versions: the 1, 1A, and 1B.
The Hatf-1 is a mobile, tactical system. As it has little or no guidance, it is nothing more than an artillery rocket. It is ground mobile and can be launched from Transporter-Erector-Launcher (TEL) vehicles. Due to its solid propellant it is easy to store, transport, and fire. Its major use is as an unguided general bombardment weapon, to be fired across a battlefield or at a general target area. If properly aimed, it can probably hit within several kilometers of the target area.
The Hatf-1 has a range of approximately 70 km (43 miles) and can carry a 500 kg warhead. As it is either unguided or uses a crude inertial system, it should be considered a long-range artillery shell, with the location of the impact depending upon the proper direction, angle of launch and the ability of the missile to fly straight. The Hatf-1 is probably deployed with high explosive or chemical weapons, although it could theoretically carry a tactical nuclear weapon. The missile has a diameter of 0.56 m and is 6 m in length. It uses a single-stage solid propellant engine.
The Hatf-1A is a variant of the Hatf-1 with a 30 km (18 miles) increase in range and an improved accuracy. This is not recorded with any decrease in the payload, although that is likely the manner in which the range was increased.
The Hatf-1B represents the final evolution of the Hatf-1 missile. The Hatf-1B is essentially a Hatf-1A with a rudimentary inertial guidance system. The missile retains the range and payload of the original Hatf-1. Despite the addition of the guidance system, which presumably gives it accuracy in the hundreds of meters CEP, it is still effectively an artillery system.
The Hatf-1 and its variants were developed with foreign assistance. While the majority of aid for development of nuclear warheads came from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the missiles themselves were derived from the second-stage of the French Eridan missile system. There are also reports of help provided from European companies. The French last used the Eridan system in 1979 and consider the missile obsolete.
The Pakistani missile development program dates back to the 1980s. The Hatf-1 was officially revealed by Pakistani officials in 1989 and it is believed to have entered service in 1992. The Hatf-1A is believed to have entered service in 1995. The Hatf-1B was first flight tested in February 2000. It likely became operational in 2004.(1)
Footnotes
1. Duncan Lennox, Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems 46 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, January 2007), 104-105.
