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Air Weapons Complex (AWC)

  • Location
    Kamra, Wah Cantonment
  • Type
    Missile-Production
  • Facility Status
    Active

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About

Founded in 1992, the Air Weapons Complex (AWC) is one of three facilities that comprise the Wah Cantonment Ordnance Complex. 1 AWC is one of Pakistan’s leading manufacturers of airborne positioning and navigation systems, global positioning systems, and air-launched weaponry. 2 AWC also plays a central role in the development of indigenous unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities. 3 It is operated by the Pakistan air force.4

In September 2007 and May 2008, AWC conducted test-flights of the Hatf-8/Ra’ad air-launched cruise missile. 5 The Ra’ad boasts a range of 350km and can be launched by the Pakistan Air Force from manned aircraft, such as the Dassault Mirage 5 or the Lockheed Martin F-16A. 6 Robert Hewson notes there are similar design features between the Ra’ad and the Chinese HY-2 “Seersucker’ anti-ship missile. 7

Glossary

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
UAV: Remotely piloted or self-piloted aircraft that can take on various intelligence or combat roles such as reconnaissance or targeted missiles strikes. The rapid proliferation of UAVs has raised concerns that they might serve as a delivery vehicle for a terrorist strike involving WMD.
Air-Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM)
A missile designed to be launched from an aircraft and jet-engine powered throughout its flight. As with all cruise missiles, its range is a function of payload, propulsion, and fuel volume, and can thus vary greatly. Under the START I Treaty, the term "long-range ALCM" means an air-launched cruise missile with a range in excess of 600 kilometers.

Sources

  1. “Kamra – Pakistan Special Weapons Facilities,” Globalsecurity.org, accessed 3 February 2011.
  2. “Kamra – Pakistan Special Weapons Facilities,” Globalsecurity.org, accessed 3 February 2011.
  3. “Kamra – Pakistan Special Weapons Facilities,” Globalsecurity.org, accessed 3 February 2011.
  4. “Kamra – Pakistan Special Weapons Facilities,” Globalsecurity.org, accessed 3 February 2011.
  5. Doug Richardson, “Pakistan tests Hatf 8 air-launched cruise missile,” Jane’s Missiles and Rockets, 1 September 2007; “Pakistan missile test,” The Advertiser, 9 May 2008, p. 38 in LexisNexis Academic Universe, www.lexisnexis.com.
  6. Doug Richardson, “Pakistan tests Hatf 8 air-launched cruise missile,” Jane’s Missiles and Rockets, 1 September 2007.
  7. Robert Hewson, “Cruise missile technology proliferation takes off,” Jane’s Intelligence Review, 1 October 2005.

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