Pakistan’s aerial target could spawn cruise missile
Source: Jane’s Defence Weekly
ANDREW KOCH JDW Bureau Chief
Washington DC
Pakistan’s Integrated Defence Systems (IDS) recently finished developing a turbojet-powered aerial target capable of simulating jet aircraft threats, company officials revealed.
The development marks the first time
Pakistan has been able to develop a turbojet target variant, which could in turn represent a small technical step toward obtaining an indigenous cruise missile capability.
Called the Nishan-Mk 2TJ, the system has a maximum speed of 370km/h, a maximum range of 35km, and an endurance of 1h. The vehicle is 9ft 8in (2.9 m) long, has a wingspan of 9ft 2in, and has a 42kg take-off weight, including a 12kg payload. The air vehicle is capable of carrying a variety of payloads, including what IDS officials describe as a “sea-skimming module”, smoke and infra-red flares, an acoustic and Doppler radar miss distance indicator system, radar altimeter and optical cameras.
The Nishan-Mk 2TJ’s significance, however, lies in the fact that IDS is the commercial arm of Pakistan’s strategic weapons development laboratory, the National Development Complex (NDC), which develops the country’s solid-fuelled ballistic missiles, among other projects. Expertise from those endeavours, combined with experience in developing IDS’ line of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), would give the NDC a basis from which to develop a cruise missile, should it decide to do so. The Nishan-Mk 2TJ’s engine would provide a further technical basis, as it marks the first turbojet to power any Pakistani UAV or aerial target.