Hatf-I

Hatf-I/IA/IB
File:Hatf-I.jpg

The Hatf-I is a short-range, road mobile, solid propellant ballistic missile.There are three versions: the 1, 1A, and 1B. The differences are very minor and all three are based on the Hatf-I system. Most commonly all three are reffered simply as Hatf-I or Hatf-I/HatfIA

The Hatf-I is a mobile, tactical system. As it has little or no guidance, thus it can be considered as an artillery rocket. It is ground mobile and can be launched from transporter erector launcher (TEL) vehicles. Due to its solid propellant it is easy to store, transport, and fire. 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 probably hit within several kilometers of the target area.

The Hatf-I has a range of approximately 70 km (43 miles) and can carry a 500 kg warhead. As it is either unguided or uses a crude inertial system, it should be considered a long-range artillery shell, with the location of the impact depending upon the proper direction, angle of launch and the ability of the missile to fly straight. The Hatf-1 is probably deployed with high explosive or chemical weapons, although it could theoretically carry a tactical nuclear weapon. The missile has a diameter of 0.56 m and is 6 m in length. It uses a single-stage solid propellant engine.

The Hatf-1A is a variant of the Hatf-1 with a 30 km (18 miles) increase in range and an improved accuracy. This is not recorded with any decrease in the payload, although that is likely the manner in which the range was increased.

The Hatf-1B represents the final evolution of the Hatf-1 missile. The Hatf-1B is essentially a Hatf-1A with a rudimentary inertial guidance system. The missile retains the range and payload of the original Hatf-1. Despite the addition of the guidance system, which presumably gives it accuracy in the hundreds of meters CEP, it is still effectively an artillery system.

The Hatf-1 and its variants were developed indiginously. The missiles are said to have derived from the second-stage of the French Eridan missile system. The French last used the Eridan system in 1979 and consider the missile obsolete.

The Pakistani missile development program dates back to the 1980s. The Hatf-1 was officially revealed by Pakistani officials in 1989 and it is believed to have entered service in 1992. In January 1989 a successful launch of an "indigenous multistage rocket into deep space" was said to have reached an altitude of more than 640 km. The Hatf-1A is believed to have entered service in 1995. The Hatf-1B was first flight tested in February 2000.

Reference

Federation of American Scientists The Pakistani Military Consortium