The United States imposed new sanctions on entities related to Pakistan’s nuclear-armed long-range ballistic missile program on December 18. A day later, the US National Security Deputy Adviser Johnathan Finer said Pakistan might eventually build a missile that would be able to hit targets beyond South Asia.
Announcing the sanctions, Mathew Miller, the spokesperson of the US State Department, said in a statement: “In light of the continuing proliferation threat of Pakistan’s long-range missile development, the United States is designating four entities for sanctions under Executive Order (E.O.) 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.”
The entities sanctioned include the National Development Complex (NDC), which worked to acquire items for Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile program – including special vehicle chassis intended to be used as launch support equipment for ballistic missiles and missile testing equipment; Affiliates International, which facilitated procurements of missile-applicable items for NDC and others; and two entities — Akhtar and Sons Private Limited and Rockside Enterprise that allegedly supplied equipment to NDC.
Speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace event shortly after, John Finer expressed alarm over Pakistan’s missile development activities, suggesting that Pakistan could build the capability to strike targets beyond South Asia, transcend continents, and pose a threat to the US. This is a stark departure from the traditional notion that Pakistan’s missile program is linked with India and the strategic imperative to counter and possibly outmatch New Delhi’s capability.
Pakistan’s long-range nuclear missile program has been sanctioned by the US on multiple occasions. Earlier, the US slapped similar sanctions on foreign firms linked with Pakistan’s missile program in September and October 2024. Pakistan’s response to the sanctions has been consistent: it condemns the sanctions as being discriminatory and posing a threat to its security.
The entities linked with Pakistan’s long-range missile development program have been targeted by the United States on multiple occasions because Pakistan is not a signatory to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), as previously explained by the EurAsian Times. The MTCR, although not a treaty, regulates the export of goods and technologies that could be used to assist weapons delivery systems to reduce the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).
Pakistan’s missile program is developing quickly, leading to improvements in range, accuracy, and payload capacity. The two missiles that have become an object of discourse due to their long range and have rattled the US are believed to be the Shaheen-III and the Ababeel missile.
Pakistan’s Missiles That Has Rattled The USA
Pakistan has been accused of collaborating with foreign firms to acquire equipment for testing the rocket motors for the Shaheen-3 and Ababeel systems, among others.
In the latest round of sanctions, the US State Department expressly stated that one of the entities, the National Development Complex in Islamabad, sought to buy supplies for Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile program, which includes the SHAHEEN series of ballistic missiles.
Pakistan’s Shaheen-III is an intermediate-range ballistic missile. Reports indicate that the missile has a 2,750-kilometer range, making it the longest-range missile in Pakistan’s arsenal. The missile has been designed to deliver both conventional and nuclear warheads.
The Shaheen-III is a two-stage, soil-fuelled propellant, which means that the missile requires less time to launch and provides greater acceleration to the missile.
The road-mobile Shaheen-III missile is equipped with a transporter erector launcher (TEL) to facilitate both transport and launch. Compared to the permanent launchers, the TELs are more survivable and can move and conceal themselves quickly.
Shaheen-III was reportedly unveiled to the public in a military parade in March 2016 after two tests in March and December 2015.
The Shaheen-III can reach targets across India and beyond. It is believed to have been developed to cover all of India, including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which are “being developed as strategic bases.”
Shaheen-III’s Post-Separation Altitude Correction (PSAC) system improves accuracy by modifying the warhead trajectory. Since its debut, the missile has been tested multiple times.
Another long-range missile has been in the headlines. Ababeel, with a stated maximum range of 2,200 kilometers, is a medium-range ballistic missile consisting of three stages and solid fuel. Like Shaheen-III, it is also designed for nuclear delivery and forms a key part of Pakistan’s strategic arsenal.
The Ababeel ballistic missile is lethal because it is outfitted with multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle (MIRV) technology.
The concept of MIRV is nearly always connected to, but not necessarily restricted to, intercontinental ballistic missiles that carry thermonuclear weapons.
A multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle (MIRV) is typically a type of exoatmospheric ballistic missile with many warheads, all of which can be directed at different targets.
MIRVs can penetrate well-defended airspaces and overwhelm the adversary’s defense systems. Moreover, MIRVs also make air defense systems less efficient from a military and financial perspective because maintaining a strong defense against them would be exceedingly costly, requiring multiple defensive missiles for each offensive one.
Pakistani experts believe that Islamabad’s innovation in ballistic missiles is not to target any distant country other than India and defeat India’s rapidly developing missile defense system.
Though the US has lambasted the development of these missiles, none of them has the requisite range to reach the US.
Dr. Mansoor Ahmad, a teacher of strategic and defense studies at the National University of Canberra, Australia, told BBC: “Until a system (missile) is tested at a range, it cannot be said that this country has done it or has acquired the capability. Pakistan has not yet tested any missile that has a range beyond India.”
Pakistani experts also argue that it is the only country that has not sought to develop Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) like India. It is the only nuclear-armed country not to possess an ICBM that can travel a distance of over 5,000 kilometers. Thus, US concerns about Pakistan’s ballistic missile program are unfounded.
However, these assurances have failed to inspire confidence in the United States, which believes that Islamabad’s missile program will likely expand, leading to the development of longer-range missiles if left unchecked.
This was evident in Finer’s argument: “If these trend lines (advancement in Pakistan’s long-range missiles) continue, Pakistan will have the capability to strike targets well beyond South Asia, including the United States, raising real questions about Pakistan’s intentions.”
Finer pointed out that only a small group of nations – Russia, North Korea, and China possess nuclear weapons and missile capabilities capable of directly reaching the US, making Pakistan’s actions particularly concerning. “It is hard for us to see Pakistan’s actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States,” he added.
