The Pakistani army has played an integral part of 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.<ref name="Book">Talbot, Ian. Pakistan: A Modern History. Retrieved on 2006-04-10.</ref> 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.

[edit] 1958-1969

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 launch Operation Gibraltar, a covert infiltration attempt in Kashmir was launched later in the year. The Indian Army became aware of the plan and 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.

[edit] 1969-1971

An unrest broke out in East Pakistan and there 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. In 1971, according to [1]some estimates, around 3 million Bangladeshis were killed, while most sources put the figure as low as 300,000. The Hamoodur Rahman report commissioned by Pakistan reported widespread looting, rape and other violations against the Bengalis. Pakistani Generals involved in the battle maintained that they went there for peace-keeping and not a "massacre", while some have alleged that Indian agents were involved in causing the conflict between the Bengalis and West Pakistanis. 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.

[edit] 1973-1989

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.

The United States provided military 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.

[edit] 1989-2001

Pakistan was placed under sanctions by USA in 1990 for developing Nuclear Weapons 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 in response to India's May 1998 tests and the military coup that placed additional sanctions on Pakistan.

Pakistani 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 betreyal 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 not a democratically elected parliament, final word on any governmental affairs is solely based upon the Army Chief. On the provincial level, there are no fully functioning democratically elected legislatures. It remains to be seen whether or not Pakistan is meant to be democracy, with its history of divisive military takeovers.

[edit] 2001-Present

Since the 9/11 incident, Pakistan has become a key ally of USA in the fight against terrorism, especially in ousting Taliban from neighbouring Afghanistan. As part of President George W. Bush's War on Terrorism, the army has been accused of engaging in human rights violations in the province of Balochistan. This has lead to an uproar in the government and much criticism for President Pervez Musharraf's agreement to the war. The Army of Pakistan's Operation 2005, as reported by the BBC is one of the most severe in recent years by any country, and the army operation has received criticism at national and international levels for its participation. Its performance in the Waziristan conflict and eventual withdrawal from the Taliban stronghold in Waziristan after signing an accord with the tribals was severely criticized by many analysts, including Pakistani and neutral observers.

[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

Image:SSG-03.JPG

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 language, Urdu, 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 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] Army's Role in Relief Operations and Economic Development

Image:Pakistan aid.jpg 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

Image:Shahida-malik-interview2.jpg

[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. Pakistan is the only country in the Islamic world to have women Major Generals in the Army.

[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. The first Sikh officer was recently inducted into the army and is expected to set the tone for future recruitment for minorities[2]. The army sees itself as a national institution and thus many non-muslim officers (including Qadiyanis) have achieved high ranks within the army[3].

[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

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

[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	9
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.
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. It, however, does not include any armoured units. Those are attached once the need arises. 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 of 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 of 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).

[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, 35th Infantry Division	Lieutenant General Sajjad Akram<ref name= "Daily Times">Imran, Muhammed. Multan and Karachi corps commanders replaced. Retrieved on 2006-05-05.</ref>
II Corps	Multan, Punjab	1st Armored Division, 2nd Artillery Division, 40th Infantry Division	Lieutenant General Sikandar Afzal<ref name= "Daily Times">Imran, Muhammed. Multan and Karachi corps commanders replaced. Retrieved on 2006-05-05.</ref>
IV Corps	Lahore, Punjab	10th Infantry Division, 11th Infantry Division	Lieutenant General Shafaatullah Shah<ref>Veterans a source of pride, says Lahore corps commander. Retrieved on 2006-05-05.</ref>
V Corps	Karachi, Sindh	16th Infantry Division, 18th Infantry Division	Lieutenant General Ahsan Azhar Hayat<ref name= "Daily Times">Imran, Muhammed. Multan and Karachi corps commanders replaced. Retrieved on 2006-05-05.</ref>
X Corps	Rawalpindi, Punjab	12th Infantry Division, 19th Infantry Division, 23rd Infantry Division	Lieutenant General Tariq Majeed
XI Corps	Peshawar, North West Frontier Province	9th Infantry Division	Lieutenant General Hamid Khan
XII Corps	Quetta, Balochistan	41st Infantry Division, 33rd Infantry Division	Lieutenant General Hamid Rab Nawaz<ref>Musharraf in Quetta today. Retrieved on 2006-05-05.</ref>
XXX Corps	Gujranwala, Punjab	8th Infantry Division, 15th Infantry Division	Lieutenant General Anis Ahmed Abbasi
XXXI Corps	Bhawalpur, Punjab	35th Infantry Division, 14th Infantry Division	Lieutenant General Imtiaz Hussain<ref name= "Pakistani Defence">Lt-Gen Imtiaz New Bahawalpur Corps Commander. Retrieved on 2006-05-05.</ref>
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 Nadeem Ahmad - Deputy Chairman of Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA)
Lieutenant General Mohammed Zaki — 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 Afzaal Ahmed — Surgeon General, GHQ-Rawalpindi.
Lieutenant General Khalid Ahmed Kidwai — Director General Strategic Planning Division, Rawalpindi.
Lieutenant General Akhtar Ali — Director General Joint Staff Headquarters, X Corps, Chaklala, Rawalpindi.
Lieutenant General Mohammed Sabir — Director General Military Services, GHQ-Rawalpindi.
Lieutenant General Masud Aslam — Director General ITNE, GHQ-Rawalpindi.
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 Commading, 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 Zaheer Islam — General Officer Commanding, 12th Infantry Division, under X Corps, Murree.
Major General Mohammed Farooq — General Officer Commanding 41st Infantry Division, under XII Corps, Quetta.
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.
Lieutenant General Israr Ahmed Ghumman — Director General Heavy Industries Taxila, Taxila.
Major General Wajahat Muftee — Director General Military Lands and Cantonments, Ministry of Defence, Rawalpindi.
Major General Javed Zia — Director General Sindh Rangers, Shahra-e-Faisal, Karachi.
Major General Hussain Mehdi — Director General Punjab Rangers, Lahore.
Major General Tariq Mahmood - Commandant Military College of Engineers, Risalpur Cantt

[edit] Rank Structure and Uniform Insignia

Pakistani Officer Ranks
Rank	Field Marshal (6-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	Image:Pak field marshal.gif	Image:Pak general.gif	Image:Pak lieutenant general.gif	Image:Pak major general.gif	Image:Pak brigadier1.gif	Image:Pak colonel.gif	Image:Pak lieutenant colonel.gif	Image:Pak major.gif	Image:Pak captain.gif	Image:Pak lieutenant.gif	Image:Pak 2ndlieutenant.gif

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	Image:Subedar major.gif	Image:Subedar.gif	Image:Jamadar.gif	Image:Warrant officer class 1.gif	Image:Warrant officer class 2.gif	Image:Company hevildar major.gif	Image:Company quartermaster havildar.gif	Image:Havildar.gif	Image:Naik.gif	Image:Lance naik.gif	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.

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

[edit] Special Forces

See main article: Pakistan Army's Special Forces for a detailed look at the Special Forces of the Pakistani Army.

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

Equipment	Number
Tanks	3500+
APC	2200
Artillery Towed	1815
Artillery Self powered	355 (including 115 recently purchased m-109 a5)
MRLs	unknown
Mortars	unknown
SSM Launchers	300+
Light SAM launchers	850
AA Guns	2250
Surface-to-surface missiles	1,200+
Anti-tank guided missile	2000+

[edit] Small Arms

Image:G3A3.jpg

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 bieng phased out)*
M-4A1 (only in service with SF)

*All Pakistani Small Arms are Indigenously Produced

[edit] Main Battle Tanks

T85II AP: - Reportedly 600 in service with more on order.
T-69: -Actively being phased out (being replaced by Al-khalid or upgraded to Al-Zarrar)
T-59: - Actively being phased out (being replaced by Al-khalid or upgraded to Al-Zarrar)
M-47/48s- Recently replaced by T85II AP and Al-Khalid
MBT 2000 Al-Khalid: - new generation tank being inducted into the Pakistan Army.
Al-Zarar: - A substantial upgrade of the T-59 tank, bringing on par with the T-72.
T-80UD/T-84: - 320 confirmed in service with another 300 reportedly ordered or in service.
Al Khalid II Main Battle Tank: - Reportedly under development, it will replace Al Zarrar and T-59 tanks from 2012. Assumed to be on par with the Chinese T-99 MBT.

**M-47/48s, T-59 Tanks are being replaced with Pakistan's Al-Zarar T-59 upgrade, a tripartite venture between Norinco of China, Ukraine's KMDB tank bureau which are handling the bulk of design and development and Pakistan, whose requirements the tank addresses. M4 Sherman tanks were historically important in Pakistani military history but are no longer in service.

[edit] Armored Personnel Carriers

M113s (Pakistan has bought 730 more)
BTR-70 s
UR 416M
Al-Qaswa Logistic Vehicle
Scorpion
SAKB Command Post Carrier [pakistani origin]
Muhafiz [pakistani origin]
Al-Talha (Pakistan currently operates 400 of these machines and expects to operate 2000 Al-Talha's by 2010)

*Al-Talha APC are upgraded versions of M113 and are currently being manufactured at Heavy Industries Taxila

[edit] Artillery

[edit] Towed

American Made M110 howitzers. Pakistan has over 40 of these Guns.

T-56 85 mm
M-101 105 mm
M-56 105 mm
T-60 122 mm
T-54 122 mm
T-59I 130 mm
M-59 155 mm
M-114 155 mm
M-198 155 mm
M-115 203 mm

[edit] Self Propelled

Image:M190 houwitser.png

M-7 105 mm
M109A2 155 mm
M110A2 203 mm
M109A5 155 mm

[edit] Mortars

Image:Type63 m601.jpg

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

[edit] Multiple Rocket System

T-83 Azar 122 mm
T-81 107 mm

*T-83 Azar MRS is Indigenously produced in Pakistan

[edit] Anti Tank Guided Weapons

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

[edit] Army Aviation

AH-1 COBRA Gunships (50 + 20 on order)
Mi-8s
French Alloute IIIs
PUMAs
Mi-17s
UH-1s
Bell-47s
Bell-412s
Bell 206s "JetRanger"
Cessena O-1Es.

[edit] Army Air Defence

Image:SA-7.jpg

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

[edit] Missiles

Image:Babur missile testing.jpg

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 namely 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] Notes

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

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

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Pakistani Forces News, Military Pictures, Defence Information and Discussions @ PakistaniForces.com
Global Security
Pakistan Army details
Pashtuns in Pakistan Army

Retrieved from "http://en.wikivisual.com/index.php/Pakistan_Army"

Category: Pakistani Army

Pakistan Army

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

[edit] History of the Pakistani Army

[edit] 1947-1958