The Ra’ad (Hatf 8) is an air-launched cruise missile developed by Pakistan. The turbo-jet powered missile can reportedly range 350 km
Ra’ad (Hatf 8) at a Glance
- Originated from
- Pakistan
- Possessed by
- Pakistan
- Class
- Subsonic Cruise Missile
- Basing
- Air-launched
- Length
- 4.85 m
- Diameter
- 0.5 m
- Warhead
- HE, nuclear, conventional
- Propulsion
- Turbojet
- Range
- 350 km
- Status
- Unknown
Hatf 8 Development
Pakistan reportedly began testing the Hatf 8 in August 2007 and has conducted several additional tests since then, including a reportedly successful flight in January 2016.1
The Hatf 8’s appearance suggests a similar design concept to the MBDA Scalp EG/Storm Shadow (Black Shaheen)/Apache, Taurus KEPD 350, and other air-launched cruise missiles.
Specifications
The turbojet-powered Hatf 8 can reportedly range 350 km. According to Pakistani media reports, the Hatf 8 possesses a “low-altitude, terrain hugging” flight profile and “pinpoint accuracy,” suggesting the presence of an active guidance system.2 It measures 4.85 m in length and 0.5 m in body diameter.3
Pakistan initially fielded the Hatf 8 on its Mirage III aircraft and aims to integrate the system with its JF-17 fighter.
Footnotes
- Agence French-Presse, “Military: Pakistan Test-Launches Homegrown Cruise Missile,” Defense News, January 19, 2016, http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/2016/01/19/military-pakistan-test-launches-homegrown-cruise-missile/79032482/; “Hatf 8 (Ra’ad), in IHS Jane’s Weapons: Strategic 2015-2016, ed. James C. O’Halloran (United Kingdom: IHS, 2015), 173.
- Hans M. Kristensen & Robert S. Norris, Pakistani nuclear forces, 2015, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 71:6, 64.
- “Hatf 8 (Ra’ad), in IHS Jane’s Weapons: Strategic 2015-2016, ed. James C. O’Halloran (United Kingdom: IHS, 2015), 173.