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35-1008: Formed as a security branch of the National Command Authority (NCA) in 2000, its leadership appointments directly comes from the Army HQ of the Pakistan Army with agency head serves its Director-General . Lieutenant-General Yusuf Jamal is its current director-general. In 1990, the Combat Development Directorate was created by the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi , with Major-General Ziauddin Butt becoming its first director-general. The directorate concerning with nuclear weapons development and delivery mechanism reported directly to army chief or

70-597: A Development Control Committee, as well as the Strategic Plans Division (SPD) which acts as its secretariat. The SPD is responsible for the management and administration of the country's tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile. It was created the same year as the NCA was formed. Their directives are to be operationalized by a new SPD under the control of a Director-General at the rank of Lieutenant-General ( Air Marshal or Vice-Admiral ) in charge of

105-664: A Strategic Plans Division (SPD). The Prime Minister— Chief Executive (Head of Government) of the country served as its chairman while other members included the high-profile Ministers of Foreign Affairs , Defense ( Military Production ), Economic , Science , and Interior , the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, the chiefs of the Pakistani Armed Forces , and the Director-General of the SPD. The DCC includes

140-555: A degree from one another in geosynchronous orbit . The first satellite navigation system, Transit , used by the United States Navy , was tested in 1960. It used a constellation of five satellites and could provide a navigational fix approximately once per hour. During the Cold War arms race , the nuclear threat was used to justify the cost of providing a more capable system. These developments led eventually to

175-536: A number of subsequent programs including Magnum and Trumpet , but these remain classified and therefore many details remain speculative. The Soviet Union began the Almaz ( Russian : Алмаз ) program in the early 1960s. This program involved placing space stations in Earth orbit as an alternative to satellites. Three stations were launched between 1973 and 1976: Salyut 2 , Salyut 3 and Salyut 5 . Following Salyut 5,

210-629: A single vote. The Government of Pakistan felt the need to establish an administrative authority after Pakistan's first publicly announced atomic tests , Chagai-I and Chagai-II , in late May 1998 at the Ras Koh weapon-testing labs in the Chagai Hills range of Chagai District , and the Kharan Desert of Balochistan Province . The roots of such mechanism traced back to the 1970s when Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto authorized

245-584: A unified central command system to use nuclear and missile technology as part of the defence and security of nuclear assets under government control. Finally, the command was formally established and given commissioned on February 3, 2000, after approval by Pakistan's National Security Council . The command compromises the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), the Development Control Committee (DCC), and

280-789: Is a constellation of military satellites managed by the United States Space Force . Six spacecraft were launched between 1994 and 2003, of which five are operational, with the sixth lost in a launch failure. They are deployed in geostationary orbit and provide wideband, narrowband and protected military communication systems. Wideband systems support high-bandwidth transfers. Protected systems offer more sophisticated security protection like antijam features and nuclear survivability, while narrowband systems are intended for basic communications services that do not require high bandwidth. The United Kingdom also operates military communication satellites through its Skynet system. This

315-406: Is a major concern in satellite communications, so geographic and meteorological factors play an important role in choosing teleports. Since some of the major military activities of the U.S. army are in foreign territories, the U.S. government needs to subcontract satellite services to foreign carriers headquartered in areas with favorable climate. Military Strategic and Tactical Relay, or Milstar ,

350-656: Is chaired by the Prime Minister. In 1994, General Beg retains: " (...).... The NCA determines the state of readiness which has to be maintained at all times... (sic)... and lays down in great detail the policy of how the various components will be placed, protected and safeguarded.". In April 1999, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Chief of Army Staff, General Pervez Musharraf developed

385-520: Is currently operated with support from Astrium Services and provides near worldwide coverage with both X band and Ultra high frequency services. Skynet 5 is the United Kingdom's most recent military communications satellite system. There are four Skynet satellites in orbit, with the latest launch completed in December 2012. The system is provided by a private contractor, Astrium, with

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420-436: Is modeled on US National Nuclear Security Administration 's Federal Protective Forces academy. Special Response Force (SRF) is the special forces unit of SPD Force. SRF is based on training techniques of SSG and has retired SSG commandos as training staff. SPD Force's primary weapons are G3 , Type 56 and Type 81 assault rifles. National Command Authority (Pakistan) The National Command Authority ( NCA )

455-586: Is the authority responsible for safeguarding the national security of Pakistan through command, control and operational decisions regarding Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme . With Prime Minister of Pakistan being its Chairperson, the NCA maintains and enhances the control and operational effectiveness of Pakistan's nuclear weapons stockpile and serves as a policy institute regarding weapons of mass destruction in Pakistan. Established in 2000 along with its paramilitary unit, Strategic Plans Division Force ,

490-490: Is the ex officio secretary of NCA, with SPD functioning as the NCA’s secretariat The NCA consists of the following nine ex officio members : The DG of the NCA's Strategic Plans Division (SPD) is the ex officio Secretary of the NCA and the SPD functions as the NCA's secretariat. Decision making in the NCA takes place through consensus and, in the event that consensus is not achieved, then through voting, with each member having

525-558: The Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS). In the United States, research into satellite based weapons was initiated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s. In 1958, the United States initiated Project Defender to develop an anti- ICBM solution launched from satellites. The satellites would have deployed a huge wire mesh to disable ICBMs during their early launch phase. The project floundered due to

560-506: The atomic bomb project to keep the projects safe from being exploited, politicized, or infiltrated by enemy powers attempting to sabotage them. It is alleged by the former Chief of Army Staff , General Mirza Aslam Beg in 1994, that the Command was established in 1972 by former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto when he authorized the atomic bomb project. The Joint Staff Headquarters (JS HQ) served its combatant operational command and

595-429: The chief of general staff . The combat development directorate functioned until 1998 with Lieutenant-General Zulfikar Ali Khan its final director when the strategic planning division was created as a security secretariat of the National Command Authority in 2000. The Strategic Plans Division has its own paramilitary force that is responsible for providing provision of security to country's strategic sites and protecting

630-639: The NCA was a direct successor to the Air Force Strategic Command which was established by the then- Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Anwar Shamim in 1983. The National Command Authority is charged with joint-space operations (such as military satellites ), information operations (such as information warfare ), missile defense , internal and external command and control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance ( C4ISR ), and strategic deterrence , and combating weapons of mass destruction . The National Command Authority oversees

665-538: The NCA's Authority under the Prime Minister’s command. The directives of the NCA are to be operationalised by the: Military satellites A military satellite is an artificial satellite used for a military purpose. The most common missions are intelligence gathering, navigation and military communications . The first military satellites were photographic reconnaissance missions. Some attempts were made to develop satellite based weapons but this work

700-680: The Pakistan Armed Forces provided the security of the agency but the agency now has started hiring its own personnel. The selection standards in terms of intelligence and physical standards for these candidates are even higher than army due to very sensitive nature of their duty. At start, these recruits were trained at Pakistan Army's training centers but since 2012 SPD has been training these recruits in its own academy known as Pakistan’s Centre of Excellence for Nuclear Security (PCENS) located in Chakri near Rawalpindi. This training facility

735-648: The Soviet Ministry of Defence judged in 1978 that the time consumed by station maintenance outweighed the benefits relative to automatic reconnaissance satellites. In 2015, United States military space units and commercial satellite operator Intelsat became concerned about apparent reconnaissance test maneuvers by the Russian satellite Olymp-K , launched in September 2014, when it maneuvered between Intelsat 7 and Intelsat 901 , which are located only half

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770-587: The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee (as deputy chairman of DCC), the chiefs of the armed forces, the director general of the SPD, and a "representative of the strategic organization and scientific community (science adviser)". Since the 1970s onward, the National Command Authority is responsible for policy formulation and will exercise employment and development control over all strategic nuclear forces and strategic organizations. It consists of an Employment Control Committee and

805-841: The deployment of the Global Positioning System (GPS). The US Navy required precise navigation to enable submarines to get an accurate fix of their positions before they launched their SLBMs. The USAF had requirements for a more accurate and reliable navigation system, as did the United States Army for geodetic surveying for which purpose they had developed the SECOR system. SECOR used ground-based transmitters from known locations that sent signals to satellite transponder in orbit. A fourth ground-based station, at an undetermined position, could then use those signals to fix its location precisely. The last SECOR satellite

840-539: The lack of any mechanism to protect the satellites from attack resulting in the cancellation of Defender in 1968. Since October 1967 satellite based weapons systems have been limited by international treaty to conventional weapons only. Art.IV of the Outer Space Treaty specifically prohibits signatories from installing weapons of mass destruction in Earth orbit. The treaty became effective on 10 October 1967 and, as of May 2013, 102 countries are parties to

875-478: The management and administration of the tactical and strategic nuclear forces. As of 2022, the director-general of the SPD is Yusuf Jamal. Since its establishment, Pervez Musharraf, as President of Pakistan , had served its first chairman. However, after the 2008 General Elections , Pakistani lawmakers introduced a new law which was passed unanimously by the Pakistani Parliament . The bill placed

910-407: The means to respond to those threats as quickly as possible to prevent the collateral damage. The civilian Prime Minister is the Chairman of this Command, with all military assets, components of NCA, and strategic commands directly reporting to Chairman of their course of development and deployment. Chairman Joint Chiefs of staff committee , service chiefs, and DG ISI are members of NCA, and DG SPD

945-502: The military's secure Precise Positioning Service (PPS). A number of nations have developed satellite based early warning systems designed to detect ICBMs during different flight phases. In the United States these satellites are operated by the Defense Support Program (DSP). The first launch of a DSP satellite was on 6 November 1970 with the 23rd and last launched 10 November 2007. This program has been superseded by

980-419: The minimum credible deterrence. The leadership appointment of the Strategic Plans Division comes directly from the Army HQ in Rawalpindi . Designated as a Director-General, the general officer is a three-star rank who reports directly to chief of army staff. There are four security directorates for each strategic organization and each directorate is led by Brigadier . Initially, the active-duty members of

1015-457: The nuclear materials. The Strategic Plans Division Force is heavily armed, which is reflective of the anticipated capabilities of an adversary likely to attempt an assault against nuclear material-holding sites. The Strategic Plan Division also serves as a "program manager" of nation's strategic and deterrence program and provides guidance as well development on weapons production at the ministry of defense's national weapons laboratories to maintain

1050-541: The operations of the Pakistani Army , Air Force , and Navy 's Strategic Commands, along with their functional basis. The unified military strategic command structure is intended to give the Prime Minister and Cabinet of Pakistan a unified resource for greater understanding of specific threats (military, nuclear, chemical, biological, radiological, conventional, and non-conventional, and intelligence) and

1085-576: The sky, half of which are owned by the US, followed by Russia, China and India. The first military use of satellites was for reconnaissance. In the United States the first formal military satellite programs, Weapon System 117L, was developed in the mid-1950s. Within this program a number of sub-programs were developed including Corona . Satellites within the Corona program carried different code names. The first launches were code named Discoverer. This mission

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1120-465: The treaty with a further 27 pending full ratification. Communications satellites are used for military communications applications. Typically military satellites operate in the UHF , SHF (also known as X-band ) or EHF (also known as K a band ) frequency bands. The US Armed Forces maintains international networks of satellites with ground stations located in various continents. Signal latency

1155-517: Was a series of reconnaissance satellites , designed to enter orbit, take high-resolution photographs and then return the payload to Earth via parachute. Discoverer 1 , the first mission, was launched on 28 February 1959 although it didn't carry a payload being intended as a test flight to prove the technology. Corona was followed by other programs including Canyon (seven launches between 1968 and 1977 ), Aquacade and Orion (stated by US Government sources to be extremely large ). There have also been

1190-499: Was halted in 1967 following the ratification of international treaties banning the deployment of weapons of mass destruction in orbit. As of 2013, there are 950 satellites of all types in Earth orbit. It is not possible to identify the exact number of these that are military satellites partly due to secrecy and partly due to dual purpose missions such as GPS satellites that serve both civilian and military purposes. As of December 2018 there are 320 known military or dual-use satellites in

1225-549: Was launched in 1969. In 1978, the first experimental Block-I GPS satellite was launched and by December 1993, GPS achieved initial operational capability (IOC), indicating a full constellation (24 satellites) was available and providing the Standard Positioning Service (SPS). Full Operational Capability (FOC) was declared by Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) in April 1995, signifying full availability of

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