Not Just Another Rocket: Why Fateh-3 Is Pakistan’s First True Cruise Missile
Pakistan’s Fateh-3 missile
The missiles represent a qualitative leap forward in the Fateh family — moving from rocket artillery to true cruise missile technology, an expert says.Pakistan has shown off its latest homegrown weapon: the Fateh-3, a supersonic cruise missile.
Here’s what makes it stand out, according to media reports:
· How fast? Between Mach 2.5 and 4 — that’s up to 4,900 km/h, or roughly four times the speed of sound.· How far can it go? Pakistan hasn’t said. For comparison, a similar Chinese missile (the HD-1) has a range of about 300 km.· Hard to spot: The Fateh-3 can fly extremely low over land or water, hugging the terrain to avoid detection and interception.· How it’s different: Earlier missiles in the Fateh family — the Fateh-1 and Fateh-2 — are guided rocket artillery with ranges of 140–400 km. The Fateh-3 is a cruise missile, meaning it flies more like a pilotless aircraft.
In short, Pakistan just added a fast, low-flying, and hard-to-stop missile to its arsenal.
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From rocket artillery to true cruise missile technology
The missiles represent a qualitative leap forward in the Fateh family — moving from rocket artillery to true cruise missile technology, Abdullah Khan, director of the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, tells Sputnik.»Prior to Fateh-3, the Pakistan Army operated Fateh-1 (140 km range guided rocket) and Fateh-2 (up to 400 km), which are advanced guided multiple-launch rocket systems focused on precision artillery strikes,» he explains.Fateh-3 marks a major enhancement to the rocket forces’ precision-strike capabilities, Khan notes.In short, Pakistan’s armed forces are undergoing a deliberate and accelerated modernization drive. Looking ahead, the expert expects further progress in extended-range cruise and ballistic systems, greater integration of air and missile defense assets, the expansion of unmanned platforms, and strengthened electronic warfare and cyber capabilities.
