Pakistan Pakistan 🇵🇰 UAV Development.

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Pakistan​

Likewise, Pakistan has attempted to grow its indigenous UAV industry after acquiring several types of Western-made UAVs, such as the German-made EMT Penzberg Luna, Italian Leonardo Falco, and US Boeing-Insitu ScanEagle. Concerted efforts to develop its indigenous UAV production capabilities have borne fruit, with several domestically produced systems already in service with the Pakistan armed forces.

These include the Global Industrial & Defence Solutions (GIDS) Uqab II, a tactical short-range UAV system developed from the Eagle Eye and the National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM) Burraq. The latter appears to be heavily inspired by the Chinese-made CH-3 tactical UAV, of which at least 20 examples were believed to have been delivered to Pakistan in 2011. The Burraq entered service with the Pakistan Air Force in November 2013 and is equipped with two underwing hard points, which can be used to launch a variety of munitions including Barq laser-guided missiles.

In May 2019, the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) released promotional material of the stealthy ZF-1 Viper UCAV concept, depicting a blended wing design with a 18m wingspan and a 35,000 pound (16,000kg) maximum take-off weight (MTOW). The effort is part of Pakistan’s ‘Project Azm’ which seeks to develop next-generation military aviation capabilities.

Pakistan has received five Cai Hong 4 (Rainbow 4, or CH-4) multirole medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from China, according to official export-import (EXIM) logs released by the government. The UAVs, which were delivered by Chinese defence contractor Aerospace Long-March International Trade Co Ltd (ALIT), arrived in the South Asian country in January 2021. It is unclear, however, which variant of the CH-4 was ordered by Islamabad, and whether this delivery is part of a larger UAV order or just a limited acquisition of this UAV type, possibly for testing.