A Chinese supplied Pakistani missile

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has officially announced the creation of a dedicated Army Rocket Force on the eve of the country's 79th Independence Day, as part of Pakistan's efforts to strengthen its missile combat capabilities following the recent military conflict with India known as Operation Sindoor.

This new force, modelled after China's People's Liberation Army Rocket Force, will have its own command structure within the military, tasked specifically with the handling, deployment, and operational control of missiles in the event of a conventional war.

The announcement, made during a ceremony in Islamabad, positioned the force as a significant milestone in boosting Pakistan’s conventional war fighting capacity and complementing its strategic deterrence posture. A senior security official explicitly stated that the new Rocket Force is obviously meant to counter India.

The background to this move is the intense four-day conflict that took place in May under Operation Sindoor, initiated by India in retaliation to a terrorist attack in Pahalgam, which Delhi attributed to Pakistan-backed groups.

The Indian Air Force used a combination of advanced missile systems, including the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile and the S-400 surface-to-air missile defence system, to neutralize Pakistani airbases and missile threats.

The BrahMos missiles, capable of speeds around Mach 3 and exceptional precision, were used to target strategic Pakistani air bases, effectively crippling Pakistan's air defence and forcing the relocation of aircraft to safer bases.

The S-400 system notably intercepted and destroyed a significant number of Pakistani missiles and aircraft, including fighter jets and at least one larger surveillance aircraft at long range, marking the largest surface-to-air kill record publicly acknowledged by India. These operations severely damaged Pakistani command centres, radars, and aircraft, turning the tide of the conflict decisively in India's favour.

Pakistan's missile arsenal is considered inferior to India’s in terms of range, technology, and missile defence capabilities. India's strategic missiles such as the Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile with over 5,000 km range, and the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, have no direct counterparts in Pakistan’s inventory.

Pakistani longest-range missiles like the Shaheen-III (2,750 km) and Ababeel (2,200 km, with disputed MIRV capability) are outmatched in terms of speed, range, and versatility. During the conflict, Pakistan’s missile launches were largely unsuccessful against India's layered air defence, which employed multiple systems including the S-400 and indigenous Aakash missiles.

The formation of the Army Rocket Force signals Pakistan's commitment to modernizing and centralizing its missile capabilities to better respond to India's enhanced missile technology and integrated defence systems.

This Army Rocket Force, with modern equipment and a dedicated command, is expected to operate alongside Pakistan’s other core defence domains — Army, Air Force, Navy, Cyber, and Space — under a more unified strategic framework. It illustrates Pakistan's recognition that missile combat capabilities are central both to conventional war fighting and nuclear deterrence, especially amid escalating tensions and recent operational setbacks.

The announcement of the new Army Rocket Force by Pakistan is a direct response to the lessons learned in the May conflict during Operation Sindoor, where Indian missile and air defence superiority inflicted significant damage on Pakistan’s military assets.

This new force aims to modernise and enhance Pakistan’s missile command and control to safeguard its interests and challenge India’s missile edge, although the technical gap between the two nations' missile arsenals remains significant.

However, a point to underscore on Pak's missile capabilities is warranted here. The latest test of its nuclear-capable Shaheen-III ballistic missile on July 22, 2025 went awry, with the missile falling short of its target and its wreckage landing perilously close to a nuclear site in Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab province. The accident, in which wreckage fell close to civilian habitations in Dera Bugti district, Balochistan, has raised high level questions over Pakistan's military competence and sparked safety concerns among locals.

Agencies