Hatf-I

The Hatf I (Urdu: حتف‎; official codename: Hatf–I) is a tactical and subsonic unguided battlefield range ballistic missile jointly designed and developed by the Space Research Commission and the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) in 1980s. After its successful tests, the Hatf-I entered in the service with Pakistan Army in 1990. It is deployed as an artillery rocket and has been replaced by the improved Hatf-IA and Hatf-IB, which have a maximum range of 100 km.

Development and design

In 1980s, the development on Hatf program began when the chief of army staff General Mirza Beg held a meeting with the Space Research Commission in an attempt to counter the Indian development of the Prithvi. The program was developed with the assistance from the KRL whose team hastily combined various available technologies to produce the first surface-to-surface missiles. The scientists at the Space Research Commission designed the Hatf-I as a highly mobile missile for tactical use. The design is said to have been derived from the second-stage of the French Eridan missile system. 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 hit within several hundred meters of the target area. The missile is low cost and easy to produce and maintain in large numbers. The Hatf I missile development program dates back to the 1980s. The Hatf-I was officially revealed by Pakistani officials in 1989 and it is believed to have entered service in 1992.