ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is preparing to test a Fatah-5 long-range guided rocket in 2026, potentially giving Islamabad its first conventional precision strike system capable of hitting targets as far as 1,000 kilometres, reports an Indian media outlet.
The report said, “If confirmed, the Fatah-5 would not only add to Pakistan’s rocket artillery inventory, but could also change the entire geometry of deterrence, long-range strike warfare and military balance across South Asia.”
It said, “Indian media has reported that the projected range would allow the Pakistan Army Rocket Force Command to threaten Indian air bases, command centers, ammunition depots, transport networks and critical infrastructure without approaching international borders,” the report added.
The development comes just months after Pakistan established the Army Rocket Force Command under a three-star general, signalling Islamabad now sees long-range precision strikes as a separate domain of operations.
The report said Pakistani military planners reportedly see Fatah-5 as the next phase in the country’s local program to achieve battlefield dominance without triggering an immediate escalation toward the nuclear threat. Within that framework, the report said, the Fatah-5 is expected to provide Pakistan with a conventional long-range strike option capable of giving a response commensurate with India’s military actions while remaining below the threshold of nuclear weapons use.
