According to an article published on July 3, 2024, by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), their analysis of photos from the 2023 Pakistan Day Parade rehearsals suggests a major evolution in Pakistan’s nuclear strike capabilities. These images indicate that the JF-17 Thunder aircraft could be equipped with the Ra’ad air-launched cruise missile, capable of carrying nuclear warheads. This development represents a transfer of nuclear strike capability from the aging Mirage III/V aircraft to the newer JF-17, thus redefining Pakistan’s aerial nuclear arsenal.
The FAS’s observations were triggered by images taken during the rehearsals of the 2023 Pakistan Day Parade, showing a JF-17 Thunder carrying a Ra’ad under its wing. Detailed analysis confirmed that the length of the missile displayed on the JF-17 matches those mounted on trucks observed in previous parades, solidifying the theory of the JF-17’s adaptation for nuclear-capable missions.
The Ra’ad missile, known militarily as Hatf-VIII, is a subsonic air-launched cruise missile developed jointly by the National Engineering & Scientific Commission (NESCOM) and the Air Weapons Complex of the Pakistan Air Force. This missile, which entered service in 2012, is utilized by the Strategic Air Force of Pakistan.
The US Air Force National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) reported in 2017 that the Ra’ad cruise missile was “conventional or nuclear,” a term normally used to describe a dual-capable system.