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Pakistan launches home-made combat drone

Iran Press TV

Sat Mar 14, 2015 11:5AM

Pakistan has successfully tested a domestically developed unmanned combat aerial vehicle equipped with a laser-guided missile capable of striking its targets with pinpoint accuracy in all types of weather conditions.

The Pakistani army said the drone, named Burraq (flying horse), successfully hit stationary and moving targets with its Barq (lightning) laser-guided missile with "impressive pinpoint accuracy" on Friday, and the military achievements would be soon deployed against terrorists.

Pakistan's Army Chief General Raheel Sharif witnessed the test, and commended the country's engineers and scientists for their "untiring efforts to acquire state-of­-the-art technology" that puts "Pakistan in a different league."

Military spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa said the system would be a "force multiplier in our anti-terror campaign."

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also said the weapons would "add a new dimension to Pakistan's defenses."

The advanced combat drone test comes as the United States has been carrying out controversial assassination drone strikes in Pakistan's mountainous northwestern tribal region near the border with Afghanistan since 2004.

According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has carried out 413 drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004, frequently prompting outcry from the government and civil groups.

Islamabad has repeatedly condemned the attacks as a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, but the raids continue unabated.

The United Nations and several human rights organizations have identified the US as the world's number one user of 'targeted killings,' largely due to its drone attacks in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan.

Burraq helped Pakistan to join the club of countries with armed drone, and to target al-Qaeda, Taliban and other militants along its lawless northwestern border with Afghanistan.

In November 2013, the Pakistani military announced that it had developed an unarmed drone to be used only for surveillance purposes. The military officials said they have no plans to arm the craft.

MP/NN