Pakistan’s successful training launch of the indigenously developed Fatah-4 Ground-Launched Cruise Missile, also known as Hatf-IV, has reshaped the strategic balance of South Asia by giving Islamabad a long-range precision strike capability that directly challenges India’s reliance on the BrahMos missile system. The launch, which was conducted under the observation of the Chief of General Staff, senior military officers, scientists, and engineers, marked a significant advancement in Pakistan’s missile program. The Fatah-4 has a range of 750 kilometres and is equipped with terrain-hugging features, advanced avionics, and modern navigational aids, enabling it to evade sophisticated radar detection and penetrate enemy missile defence shields with high accuracy. President Asif Ali Zardari hailed the launch as a “milestone in Pakistan’s defence system” and praised the achievement as evidence of the nation’s scientific self-reliance, reiterating that Pakistan’s defence will remain impregnable against external threats.
For years, India’s BrahMos missile, jointly developed with Russia, has been viewed as one of the most potent conventional strike systems in South Asia. With its supersonic speed of nearly Mach 3 and a range of 300 to 500 kilometres in most deployed versions, the BrahMos was considered a game-changer for India’s strike doctrine, especially when combined with its plans to integrate the missile with the S-400 air defence system. However, Pakistan’s successful induction of the Fatah-4 has altered this equation. Although the Fatah-4 is subsonic compared to the supersonic BrahMos, its superior range of 750 kilometres gives Pakistan the ability to hit critical targets much deeper inside Indian territory than BrahMos can achieve inside Pakistan. More importantly, Fatah-4’s low-level terrain-hugging flight path makes it exceptionally difficult for Indian radars and missile defence networks to detect and intercept, effectively neutralising the advantage India sought through BrahMos-S-400 integration.
Another major distinction lies in the technological independence of the two systems. While BrahMos is a product of Indo-Russian cooperation and still depends on Russia for crucial inputs, the Fatah-4 represents a largely indigenous achievement. Pakistan’s ability to develop, test, and induct the missile without foreign dependency highlights the growth of its domestic defence industry and provides greater strategic autonomy. This self-reliance not only strengthens Pakistan’s defence capabilities but also insulates it from potential geopolitical constraints, a flexibility that India cannot enjoy with BrahMos. The integration of Fatah-4 into the newly established Army Rocket Force Command further enhances its operational utility, as the missile will now form part of a coordinated conventional strike doctrine, giving Pakistan flexibility in deployment and greater credibility in deterrence.
The successful test of Fatah-4 underscores Pakistan’s evolving strategy, which places greater emphasis on precision, survivability, and the ability to penetrate defences rather than on sheer speed. By prioritising stealth and range, Pakistan has created a weapon that can bypass India’s high-profile defence acquisitions and still ensure devastating retaliatory or pre-emptive capabilities if conflict breaks out. This development narrows the gap created by India’s earlier acquisition of BrahMos and restores a degree of strategic balance in the region. Military analysts suggest that the presence of Fatah-4 in Pakistan’s arsenal complicates Indian planning, as it makes fixed strategic assets, command structures, and critical infrastructure within Indian territory more vulnerable to precise strikes.
In the broader strategic context, the unveiling of Fatah-4 within weeks of the announcement of the Army Rocket Force is not coincidental. It reflects a deliberate policy by Islamabad to modernise its conventional missile forces and strengthen deterrence in a region where the security balance has always been fragile. The successful test is not just a technological achievement but also a political signal to both domestic and international audiences that Pakistan has the capacity to innovate, adapt, and counterbalance its adversary’s advancements. While India will continue to develop extended-range BrahMos variants, the Fatah-4 has given Pakistan an undeniable edge by providing longer reach, independent production, and superior survivability. In an environment where both nations remain locked in a rivalry with nuclear undertones, the induction of Fatah-4 is likely to intensify the race for conventional deterrence dominance, further complicating South Asia’s already delicate security landscape.
