Pakistan Increasingly Leans on Loitering Munitions

In 2021, Quwa wrote an article inferring that Pakistan will doubtless undertake a loitering munitions technique. Practically 4 years later, it’s evident that Pakistan is buying a variety of loitering munitions and, that too with a robust emphasis on home manufacturing by means of in-house packages and partnerships with various international authentic gear producers (OEM). In different phrases, Pakistan has a substantive – or maybe an formidable – loitering munitions program beneath method.

The Russia-Ukraine Conflict drew consideration to the worth of loitering munitions – alongside drones, standard ballistic missiles, and surface-to-air missiles (SAM). Nonetheless, the potential utility of loitering munitions was obvious earlier than that battle. They supplied low value technique of endeavor precision strikes, even at longer ranges. For instance, the Iranian Shahed-136 might value round $50,000 USD per unit to fabricate, but the drone is ready to ferry a 50 kg warhead as much as a reported vary of two,500 km. It isn’t as giant as Tomahawk- sized cruise missiles, however a 50 kg warhead in opposition to the suitable goal (e.g., a radar) can generate a really excessive return on funding in a battle. Nonetheless, the Shahed-136 represents one finish of the loitering munitions spectrum, maybe nearer to the middle-to-high-end. There are additionally a rising array of smaller munitions – some the dimensions of hand-grenades – that may elevate the end-user’s tactical assault capabilities in a myriad of eventualities, be it in standard battle or asymmetrical warfare.

That mentioned, regardless of the formfactor, vary, payload, or steering choices, a loitering munition will supply one universally vital profit – flexibility. A loitering munition doesn’t require a expensive or complicated launch platform, like an plane or floor warship (although it could possibly leverage one if want be). The truth is, some loitering munitions may be deployed from the palm of the operator, and a few bigger munitions can take off from a runway. And the place launchers are required, the programs may be comparatively easy catapults and multi-tube launchers, that are comparatively low value and scalable to deploy in giant numbers. 

There are drawbacks, nevertheless. Loitering munitions typically lack the vary, payload, and pace/cruising mixtures of bigger cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs (PGB). As well as, loitering munitions may very well be inclined to sure countermeasures, reminiscent of directed power weapons (DEW). Some might level to Israel’s efficient use of a multi-layered air defence system as proof {that a} mass loitering munition assault may very well be thwarted. Nonetheless, there are caveats with that argument. First, few – if any – international locations are geared up with as dense an air defence system as Israel (owing to its comparatively tight geography). Pakistan’s principal adversary is India, and it’s doubtless that Pakistan will uncover extra vulnerabilities in its neighbour’s protection to leverage the worth of loitering munitions, particularly in eventualities like cross-border skirmishes. Second, Pakistan will use loitering munitions in live performance with cruise missiles, gliding PGBs, tactical ballistic missiles, and different munitions, therefore giving it extra choices to have interaction multi-layered air defences.