Pakistan successfully test-fired Fa’az, its first indigenously developed air-to-air missile, on Tuesday, the military’s media wing said, calling the flight test a milestone for the country’s aerospace and defence capabilities.
Fa’az matters because it gives the Pakistan Air Force a home-grown air-to-air weapon, a class of missile fired from an aircraft against targets in the air, and the military presented the test as a step toward greater self-reliance in defence production.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the missile is equipped with a state-of-the-art terminal guidance system and can engage enemy aerial targets at longer ranges.
Fa’az will significantly enhance the operational flexibility of the Pakistan Air Force and further strengthen the country’s overall defence posture, the ISPR said in its statement.
The successful flight test underscores the technical maturity, innovation and self-reliance achieved by Pakistan’s defence industry, according to the ISPR.
Senior officers of the Pakistan Armed Forces watched the launch, along with scientists and engineers who played a pivotal role in developing the weapon system, the ISPR said.
President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, and the services chiefs congratulated the scientists and engineers on the achievement, according to reports of the ISPR statement.
The test follows two surface-to-surface missile tests last month, Dawn reported, including the Fatah-2 extended-range missile on October 13 and an extended version of the Fatah-IV ground-launched cruise missile a week earlier.
Those earlier tests were presented by the military as part of the same drive to build and prove weapons developed in Pakistan, rather than relying on imported systems.
The Fatah-2 extended-range system tested on October 13 was described by the military as equipped with advanced navigation and state-of-the-art avionics, and capable of engaging targets with high precision, according to the ISPR account reported at the time.
The statements reported so far did not say when Fa’az will enter service or which aircraft will carry it in operational use.
The statements reported so far gave no range figure, launch location or carrier aircraft for Fa’az, and the military described the flight test itself as successful.
