While defence experts find it extremely difficult to assess the nuclear capabilities of Pakistan due to the government secrecy surrounding the country's nuclear arsenal, there are reports that Pakistan is equipping its JF-17 fighter jets with Ra’ad-I missiles.
Ra’ad-I missile, which can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads, has been with the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) since 2012. It is Pakistan’s only nuclear-capable air-launched cruise missile.
Pakistan is reliant on the Mirage III/V for nuclear delivery. Reports have suggested that the country may incorporate Ra’ad ALCM onto the JF-17 so that it can take over the role from Mirage III/V. Pakistan had reportedly procured 130 operational lightweight, single-engine, multi-role combat aircraft JF-17 aircraft, and plans to acquire more.
While there has been hardly any information about the procurement of JF-17 or if the aircraft, jointly developed by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and Chengdu Aircraft Corporation of China, would replace Mirage III and V, according to a report by the US think tank Federation of American Scientists (FAS), there could be some confirmation on Pakistan's plans to equip JF-17s with Ra’ad ALCM (air-launched cruise missile).
In March 2023, an aviation photographer managed to capture images of a JF-17 Thunder Block II, which appeared to be equipped with Ra’ad-I nuclear missile during the rehearsals for Pakistan Day Parade 2023. The parade was cancelled later.
Photos analysed by FAS suggested that the missile on the JF-17 looked to be a close match of the ‘twin-tail’ configuration of the Ra’ad-I. The photos were compared with Ra’ad-I and -II missiles that were showcased at the Pakistan Day Parades in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2024.
Photos were also compared to Taimoor, Pakistan's air-launched cruise missile. FAS research has revealed that the missile on JF-17 was not the Taimoor.
FAS checked the dimensions of the cruise missile in the JF-17 image and said, the "measurements offer additional evidence to support our conclusion that the missile observed in the photographed image of the JF-17 is the Ra’ad-I ALCM."
"From these observations, it is likely that Pakistan has made significant progress toward equipping its JF-17s with the capability to eventually supplement–and possibly replace–the nuclear strike role of the aging Mirage III/Vs," FAS concluded.
