Pakistan tests Fatah missile system

A scale model of Pakistan's Fatah I/II MRL system, displayed at IDEF 2023 in Türkiye. (Janes)

Pakistan has test-launched a Fatah-series missile during a continuing military training exercise named ‘Indus', the Pakistan armed force's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) announced on 5 May.

The launch, featuring an unknown variant of the Fatah weapon, is the second that the Pakistan military has conducted in recent days as tensions with neighbour India rise. On 3 May ISPR also announced that the Pakistan military had test-launched the Abdali surface-to-surface missile (SSM) as part of Exercise ‘Indus'.

“Pakistan today conducted a successful training launch of a Fatah-series surface-to-surface missile(SSM) with a range of 120 kilometres as part of ongoing Ex[ercise] ‘Indus',” ISPR said, following the latest training launch.

“The launch was aimed at ensuring the operational readiness of troops and validating key technical parameters, including the missile's advanced navigation system and enhanced accuracy,” ISPR added.

ISPR did not provide any details about the duration of the ‘Indus' military exercise and the military platforms participating in it. Details ISPR released about the Fatah and Abdali missile launches were similarly limited.

The Pakistan Army operates two Fatah missile variants: Fatah-I and the extended-range Fatah-II. The weapons are fired from the similarly named Fatah-I and Fatah-II multiple rocket launcher (MRL) systems.

ISPR previously reported that the Fatah-I missile has a range of 140 km and that Fatah-II has a range of 400 km. Given the stated range of the latest missile test, it is likely that it featured the Fatah-I system. However, this has not been verified.