This section covers some of the components (can’t remember the right word for it at the moment) of Pakistani army like regiments, armour and anti-tank units. There is surprisingly little information about even basic information like infantry regiments of Pakistani army and a lot of data is missing.
Anti Tank
Pakistani Army utilises dedicated vehicle mounted anti-tank infantry battalions and organic anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) with some infantry battalions.These battalions have good mobility and are meant for harassing enemy armour formations as in defensive as well as offensive operations. Starting from the late 1950s, 1-2 battalions from certain divisions were assigned the role of Reconnaissance and Support (R&S) by arming them with weapons mounted on light vehicles. At that time jeep like vehicles were fitted with recoilless rifles and medium (and heavy?) machine guns. This formed a fast moving screening and reconnaissance element for rest of the forces.
Later on, most of these battalions were converted into Light Anti Tank (LAT) battalions assigned to brigade level command. There are some Heavy Anti Tank (HAT) battalions which are most probably under Corps or Division level control.
LATs usually have Bhaktar Shikan (copy of Chinese HJ-8), Milan ATGMs and Alcotán-100, RPG-29 rockets mounted on light vehicles such as Land Rovers. HATs units usually use TOW or BS ATGMs mounted on Talha, copy of M113 Armoured Personnel Carrier.This ATGM mounted version is called Maaz. PA had imported 24 M-901 TOW vehicles in the mid 1980s. It’s not clear how many of them are still operational.
All of the above anti-tank units, specially the Heavy ones are sub-optimal solutions in the sense that these are just APCs with an ATGM launcher installed on top of the vehicle. These have to be fired by a crew member by sticking his head out of vehicle and aiming it manually. There seems to be very few dedicated ATGM vehicles like M-901 below.
Considering that the vehicle belongs to II Corps based in Punjab with offensive role and the fact that only 24 were purchased, it is likely that there are no more than a regiment worth of these machines in operation.
Following are some of the known anti-tank units:
| UNIT | LOCATION |
| 19 Baloch LAT battalion | |
| 5 Punjab? LAT Regiment | Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
| 21 Punjab LAT Battalion | |
| 23 Punjab LAT Battalion | |
| 26 Punjab LAT Battalion | Sialkot |
| 34 Punjab LAT | Okara Cantt |
| UNIT | FORMATION | WEAPONS |
| 39 AK HAT | ||
| 40 AK HAT | XXXI Corps | TOW on M113PA2 APCs |
| 44 AK HAT | XXX Corps | Bhaktar Shikan on VCC-1 APCs |
| 226 AK HAT Company | ||
| 227 AK HAT Company | TOW on M113PA2 APCs | |
| 36 Baloch | Bhaktar Shikan on VCC-1 APCs |
TOWs are also used on AH-1 Cobras attack helicopters. 20 of these helicopters were procured in 1985, 12 in 2007 and 14 in 2010. Some have been lost in crashes and combat operations and the remaining fleet is struggling with lack of spares.
Pakistan was looking to acquire 1000 AGM-114R Hellfire ATGMs along with 15 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters in a deal worth USD 952 million with the US, but it was never finalised. Then they ordered 30 T-129 attack helicopters from Turkey along with UMTAS (8 km range) and laser guided Cirit missiles. But even that deal was vetoed by US over Turkey’s purchase of S-400. Turkey is hopeful of developing and fitting a different engine in the helicopter to bypass the American sanctions, but it seems unlikely for now. Earlier, Pakistan had tested and rejected Chinese Z-10 attack helicopters due to poor performance. With other deals failing to materialise, they now may be forced to buy sub-par Chinese machines.
Burraq drone (copy of Chinese CH-3) was weaponised with laser guided Barq missile (copy of Chinese HJ-10) which can be used in anti-tank roles. There is not much information available about number of these drones and missiles in service. Another ATGM they have in their arsenal is Ukranian Kombat laser guided ATGM which is fired from 125mm smooth bore cannon of Al Khalid tank. Its range is 200-5000m.
EQUIPMENT:
TOW and TOW 2:
Pakistan purchased around 1000 TOW wire guided missiles with AH1-F Cobras and M-109 vehicles. Later 2nd gen 2769 RF TOW 2A and 415 RF bunker buster versions were acquired in a deal worth USD 185 million in 2004. Some of the TOWs were used by Pakistani army to target Indian posts on LoC and a few against Pashtoons and anti-govt islamists. Remaining should be beyond their shelf-life and possibly retired or used for training. Newer TOW2 are not a fire-and-forget type missile, but still quite a threat to almost any armoured vehicle due to its heavy warhead.
Bhaktar Shikan:
This is a licensed copy of Chinese HJ-8, which itself copies from TOW and Milan. There are multiple versions of this missile, but its not clear which are deployed by PA. Pakistan started manufacture of this missile in 1997. ISPR claims a production run of ~21000 missiles and some sources claim 23350 between in 22-24 years. Actual number is likely to be lower. There is also an air-launched version which is probably integrated on Cobras. This missile too needs to be guided to the target by the operator.
Kornet-E
Pakistan ordered 52 9K129 Kornet-E launchers and 200+ ATGMs from Russia in 2017-18. This includes a few anti-structure missiles and thermal sights for night operations.
Instalaza
A total of 1799 Instalaza ALCOTAN-100 man-portable anti-tank unguided rockets and 158 launchers were purchased between 2016 and 2018. It has a 100mm HEAT charge and weighs 14 kg. Its not clear which units were equipped with these.
Air Defence
Pakistan puts a huge emphasis on Air Defence as evident by Army’s dedicated Air Defence Command, comprising of two divisions and one independent brigade; 3rd Air Defence Division (Sargodha) 4th Air Defence Division (Malir) and 105th (I) Air Defence Brigade and a total of 12-14 brigade HQs.
This command created an integrated Air Defence Control and Reporting System in the mid 1980s which was supposed to be highly efficient and with good integration among the air force, army as well as navy. PAF shoulders the responsibility of overall defence of Pakistani air space with assistance from army and navy.
- Air Defence Regiments: These are usually of three types, SAM, mixed (Anti-Air Artillery AAA guns and SAM) and Surveillance. Each regiment has usually 3 batteries with 4-8 SAM launchers or AAA guns. Number of troops is usually 300-400. Battery commander is Captain or Major.
- Air Defence Brigades: Attached to Armoured divisions.
- Air Defence Divisions: Attached to Corps.
AD Command HQ is located in Chaklala, Rawalpindi and it controls four geographical Sector HQs. Each such sector HQ controls one Sector Operations Centre (SOC) which gets its inputs from a mix of sensors and radars (airborne and ground based). Operational Control Centres (OCC) which work alongside SOC control the actual AD actions like use of SAMs, interceptors and other available assets . Army’s AD command too is located at Chaklala and is under direct control of GHQ. Each of the army’s AD brigade has multiple regiments with AAA guns, MANPADs and SAMs.
Over the years, Pakistan’s AD network has struggled to keep up with modern challenges. While it has inducted 9 batteries of Chinese medium range HQ-16AE SAMs, it has been unsuccessful in its quest for a longer range SAMs and Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) due to numerous reasons.
| NAME | RANGE, ALTITUDE (km) | BATTERIES x LAUNCHERS | UNITS/LOCATIONS | RADAR |
| HQ-16AE/LY-80 | 40,0.015-18 | 9 x 4 | Lahore | IBIS-150 L-Band PESA 150km |
| HQ-9 | 27,200 | Only rumours | ||
| HQ-7B/FM-90 SP | 0.7 -15,0.015-6 | 15 x 3 | S-Band AESA.25 km | |
| SPADA-2000 | 25 | 10x 2 sections (6 missiles/ launcher). 750 missiles | RAC-3D. 60km | |
| Anza | 0.5-6,0.03-4 | 2400-3500 missiles | IR | |
| FIM-92 Stinger | 8,3.5 | 350 missiles | IR | |
| FN-6 MANPAD | 5.5,3.8 | 295 missiles | IR | |
| RBS-70 MANPAD. SP | 5,3 | 140 | Laser |
- SP: Self Propelled
- MANPAD: Man-portable air-defense systems
HQ-16/LY-80
HQ-16 medium range SAMs are under direct control of Pakistan’s Air Defence Command. They had ordered 3 batteries and 8 IBIS-150 radars in 2013 and 6 more batteries again in 2014. Each firing battery has 4 vertical launch vehicles with 6 launch tubes making a total of 24 missiles in each battery. Command & Control, search radar and tracking radar are carried separately. Support vehicles include vehicles for power supply, testing, loading and maintenance.
It uses a mast mounted S-band 3-D passive phased array radar with a range of roughly 150 km as search radar. L-band passive electronically scanned array radars with a range of 80-85 km are used for guidance and tracking. It can detect upto 6 targets and track 4 at the same time.
Confirmed Users: 1 & 3 LOMAD Regiments
HQ-7B/FM-90
HQ-7 is a Chinese copy of French Crotale SAM. This system’s range against aircraft is 0.7 km to 7 km and against cruise missiles is 0.7 km to 11 km with maximum flight ceiling of 12 km. It can detect a target with radar cross section of 0.1 m sq at 20 km and track at 18 km. It uses mechanically steered S-band 3D Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar which can detect 48 targets and track 24. Each battery has 3 wheeled launchers with each carrying 4 missiles. These two are in control of AD Command
Confirmed User: 89th SAM Regiment
SPADA-2000
Spada SAMs bought from Italy are under control of PAF AD frmations. It can detect targets up to 60 km away and engage them at 25 km. 750 missiled for 10 batteries with 2 sections each were bought for USD 650 million in 2010. These are deployed in Chaklala, Jacobabad, Kahuta, Kamra, Karachi, Sargodha and Kushab.
MANPADS
Pakistan uses a large variety of shortranged man portable air defence systems which include laser guided Swedish RBS-70 and infrared homing Anza (copy of Chinese QW-1), Chinese F-6 and American Stinger. Most of the army’s AD units are equipped with these missiles along with AA guns for point defence roles.
HQ-9/FD-2000 – Rumour
Purchase of FD-2000 (export version of HQ9) has never been confirmed apart from some low resolution satellite images, allegedly of vehicles which resemble HQ-9 in a Pakistani airbase near Indian border. It is more likely to be a rumour or deliberate misinformation at this point. One slightly more credible proof comes from sighting of LY-27A long range anti-stealth radar at Mianwali airbase on Sep 2019. But there are no launchers or targeting radars anywhere nearby. Reported range of FD-2000 system against aircraft is 7 km-125 km, against cruise missiles is 7 km -25 km and short range ballistic missiles is 7km -25 km with flight ceiling of 27 km.
| UNIT | LOCATION | FORMATION | WEAPONS |
| Pakistan Army Air Defence Center | Malir Cantt | N/A | |
| 1 LOMAD Regiment | 4 AD Div | HQ-16 | |
| 3 LOMAD Regiment | HQ-16 | ||
| 5 Lt AD (Fakhar-e-Quaid) | |||
| 6 Lt AD (Glorious) | Malsi Garrison | ||
| 13 Lt AD. | Peshawar Cant | ||
| 19 SP/LT AD | |||
| 20 Medium AD (Sky Saviours) | RBS-70 SAM on APC, Giraffe | ||
| 29 RCG AD | |||
| 36 Lt AD | |||
| 41 Med AD | |||
| 43 Lt AD (Teer-Ba-Hadaf) | |||
| 44 SP AD | |||
| 52 Medium AD | |||
| 58 Medium AD | |||
| 67 Light? SP AD | Multan Cantt | ||
| 74 Lt AD (Mardan-e-Haq) | |||
| 75 RCG AD (Katiba Mujahid) | |||
| 88 Lt AD (Mardan-e-Haq) | |||
| 89th SAM Regiment | FM90 | ||
| 90 Lt AD | |||
| 94 Lt AD | Mailsi Garrison, Punjab | ||
| 95 Light AD Regiment. | Warsk Garrison, Peshawar | ||
| 97 RCG AD | I Corps (I) | Sky guard radar, Oerlikons | |
| 98 Ll AD | |||
| 100 Lt AD Gun SAM (Centurions) | Lahore Cantt | ||
| 100 Lt AD Gun | |||
| 102 Lt AD (The Hunters) | Mangla/Gharial Camp, Murree | ||
| 103 Lt AD | |||
| 104 Lt AD Gun (Fakhar e Chaman) | |||
| 123 SCR AD | Ojhri Camp, Rawalpindi | ||
| 124 SCR AD | Multan | ||
| 125 SCR AD | |||
| 126 Lt AD (G/M) Regiment (Victorious) | Malir | ||
| 127 medium AD | |||
| 133 RCG AD | Nowshera Cantt | ||
| 134 RCG AD | |||
| 135 Missile AD | |||
| 136 RCG AD | |||
| 162 SCR AD Reg | Karachi | ||
| 140 Lt AD | |||
| 141 Lt AD or SAM | |||
| 142 Missile AD | Giraffe, RBS 70 | ||
| 143 Missile AD | Giraffe, RBS 70? | ||
| 144 SP Light AD | 6th Armrd Div | RBS-70 SAM on APC, Giraffe | |
| 145 Lt AD | |||
| 146 SP AD (Bahimmat) | |||
| 147 Lt SP? AD | |||
| 148 SP AD (AK) | |||
| 151 SP/Lt AD (The Pioneers) | Bahawalpur | ||
| 152 Lt AD | |||
| 153 Lt/SP AD | Bahawalpur. | RBS-70 SAM on APC, Giraffe | |
| 154 SP AD | Bahawalpur. | ||
| 155 Light SP AD | Malir Cantt Karachi | ||
| 157 Lt AD | |||
| 156 Lt AD | |||
| 158 Lt AD | |||
| 159 Lt AD | |||
| 160 RCG? AD | Multan Cant | ||
| 161 Lt RCG? AD | I Corps |
Army Aviation Corps
Pakistan Army operates a large variety of aircraft and helicopters, but the number of units is quite small. Most potent machine they have is Mi-35M3, they have only 5 of those. They have American 28-35 operational AH-1F Cobras,20 were bought between 1984-1986, 8 in 2007 and 14 in 2010. Now most of them are old and need replacement. Their plans to buy 18 AH-1Z from the USA and 30 T-129 from Turkey were junked due to American sanctions. They then tried to buy Chinese Z-10 and even tested it, but rejected it due to performance and cost issues. Turkey was supposed to offer T-129 with a new engine, but this project is in limbo right now.
Table below lists only some of the more numerous aircraft operational as of now.
Role of Pakistani Aviation Corps are:
- Combat Aviation Support by AHI-F Cobra & Mi-35 attack helicopters and Bell 206B scouts. Three dedicated combat aviation squadrons and once composite as listed below. Some of the 206Bs are equipped with machines guns and optical pods.
- Cargo & Troop Transport by helicopter and fixed wing aircraft like Mi-17, Y-12, Alouettes
- Intelligence & Reconnaissance by 56th ISR Squadron equipped with Beech 200 and Cessna 208s
- Battlefield Support by acting as airborne forward air controller, artillery spotter and assistance with surveillance and casualty evacuation.
- High Altitude Support by troop and equipment transport, reconnaissance etc in Pak Occupied Kashmir and Siachen areas by Puma, Mi-17, Lama and Alouette-III
| SQUADRON | AIRCRAFT | LOCATION | NOTES |
| 1st ‘The Pioneers’ | PAC/MFI-17SA316B | Mangla | |
| 2nd ‘ Above The Best’ | PAC/MFI-17SA316B | Lahore | Composite |
| VVIP Flight | Merged with 13th Squad in Aug 2006 | ||
| 3rd ‘Daring Three’ | PAC/MFI-17SA315B | Multan | |
| 4th ‘Gallants’ | Bell 412EPMi-17-1V, Mi-35M | Gilgit | Combat Aviation Squadron plus transport? |
| 5th ‘FearlessFive’ | MI-17 | Skardu | |
| 6th Emergency Relief Cell‘Anytime, anywhere’ | AW-139, UH-1H | Islamabad | |
| 7th ‘Scorpions’ | Mi-17, SA316B | PNS Mehran, Karachi | |
| 8th ‘Chumik Saviours’ | L-19, MFI-17 Planes. Alouette-III | Rawalpindi | Composite |
| 9th | MFI-17, Alouette-III | Peshawar | Composite |
| 10th “Balochis’ | MFI-17 | Multan | |
| 11th AAv Squadron | AS350B3, PAC/MFI-17, SA315B | Rahwali | |
| 12th ‘Desert Reckoner’ | Mangla | ||
| 13th ‘Mujahid’ | Y-12 | Rawalpindi | |
| 21st Quick Reaction ‘Jabir’ | Mi-17, Puma? | Tarbela Dam | |
| 24th ‘Desert Hawks’ | Puma | Multan | |
| 25th ‘Azam-O-Laggan’ | Puma, Bell 412EP | Gilgit | |
| 27th ‘Al-Najam-Us-Saqib’ | Mi-8, MI-17 | Rawalpindi | |
| 28th AAV Squadron | IAR330SM, SA330J | Rawalpindi | |
| 29th AAv Squadron | Mi-17-1V, Mi-17V-5 | Rahwali | |
| 31st Combat “Panzer’ | AH-1F Cobra, Bell 206B-2/3 | Multan | Combat Aviation Squadron |
| 33rd Combat ‘Air Wolves’ | AH-1F Cobra, Bell 206B-2/3 | Multan | Combat Aviation Squadron |
| 35th Combat ‘Air Mustangs’ | AH-1F Cobra, Bell 206B-2/3 | Multan | Combat Aviation Squadron |
| 50th Border Security Force | |||
| 56th ISR Squadron | Beech 200, Beech 350/350i, Ce208BCe208B EX | Rawalpindi | Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron |
| 199 EME Battalion ‘Pioneers’ | Repair TH-300PAC/MFI-17 | Rahwali | 4 companies for Flight line Ops, Technician training, Field Repair & Base Repair. |
| 299 EME Battalion | Repair SA315B Mi-8, Alouette-III | Rawalpindi | |
| 399 EME Battalion | Repair Mi-17 | ||
| 499 EME Battalion | Repair AH-1F Cobra | ||
| 599 EME Battalion ‘Optimists’ | |||
| Central Aviation Spares Depot, Dhamial | Formerly Central Ordnance Aviation Depot. | ||
| Ordnance Aviation Depot, Multan | Multan | ||
| 1st Forward Area Arming Refuelling Company | |||
| 2nd Forward Area Arming Refuelling Company | |||
| 3rd Forward Area Arming Refuelling Company | |||
| 301st,302nd & 303rd Fuel Storage Platoon | |||
| 351st, 353nd, 353rd Field Supply Platoons | |||
| Pakistan Rangers | |||
| Frontier Corps NWFP Aviation Flight | |||
| Pakistan Rangers, Sindh | |||
| Accident Investigation Board | |||
| Army Aviation Cell Artillery Centre | |||
| 1 Light Company Defence Service Guards | |||
| AAv Engineering School | |||
| Qasim AAv Base | |||
| AAv School, Chakla | |||
| Combat Group | |||
| 503rd Workshop EME | |||
| HQ AAv Command | |||
| Aviation Directorate |
Header image from: aminoapps.com