Army Strategic Forces Command (Pakistan)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name = Army Strategic Forces Command (Pakistan)
country = PAK
type = Strategic Corps
dates = 2000 to date
specialization = Employment of Land Based Strategic Assets
size = classified
current_commander = Lt. Gen. Syed Absar Hussain
garrison = Rawalpindi [http://www.pakdef.info/nuclear&missile/armystrategiccommand.html]
colors = Red and white
wars =
notable_commanders = Lt. Gen. Ghulam Mustafa
Lt. Gen. Khalid Munir

The Army Strategic Forces Command (ASFC) is the force which commands all of Pakistan's land based strategic forces. Its purpose is the deterrence of attack by aggressors against Pakistan. It is considered the 10th Corps of the Pakistan Army.

History

The Headquarters of the new formation was created in June 1999, shortly after the 1998 Nuclear Tests. The genesis of the new formation was that of then Chief of the Army Staff, General Pervez Musharraf, who desired to have a formal command and control structure for the employment of Pakistan land based nuclear weapons. The formation itself became operational in March 2000. It became a fully fledge corps in 2004.

Employment

The official remit of the formation is "the command and employment of all land-based strategic assets." This rather vague description seems to imply that it controls most, if not all, of Pakistans Ballistic launchers. While Pakistan is a nuclear weapons state, it is unknown at this time if ASFC is in possession or control of any nuclear warheads, though presumably in a nuclear war a good percentage of the warheads would be delivered to their targets by the launchers of the ASFC.

Composition

Since 2004, ASFC has been made the equivalent of a corps. It has subordinate divisions, brigades and units. There is scant information on these, except for the 47th Artillery Brigade, which seems to be based in Sargodha [http://www.pakdef.info/nuclear&missile/armystrategiccommand.html] .

See also

*Strategic Rocket Forces
*Strategic Air Command

External links

* [http://www.pakdef.info/nuclear&missile/armystrategiccommand.html An article on the raising of the ASFC, written by its first Commander]