Strategic Plans Division Force

Last updated
SPD Force
عسکری حکمتِ عملی ڈیوژن فورس
Pakistan Inter Services (Emblem).png
Founded2 February 2000(24 years ago) (2000-02-02)
CountryFlag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan
Branch National Command Authority
RoleStrategic/Protection of nuclear materials
Size25,000+ [1]
Garrison/HQ Joint Staff HQ in Rawalpindi, Punjab
Nickname(s)SPDF
Commanders
Director-General of SPD Force Lt-Gen. Yusuf Jamal

The Strategic Plans Division Force (SPD Force) is a paramilitary unit responsible for safeguarding Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, including both tactical and strategic nuclear weapons, as well as the security of nuclear facilities where these weapons and materials are produced and stored. [2] [3]

Contents

Formed as a security branch of the National Command Authority (NCA) in 2000, [4] 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.

Historical background and role

In 1990, the Combat Development Directorate was created by the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi, with Major-General Ziauddin Butt becoming its first director-general.: xvii  [5] The directorate concerning with nuclear weapons development and delivery mechanism reported directly to army chief or the chief of general staff.: 388  [5] 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.: x  [5]

The Strategic Plans Division has its own paramilitary force that is responsible for providing provision of security to country's strategic sites and protecting the nuclear materials. [6] 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. [7]

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 the minimum credible deterrence.: 388–400  [5]

Organization

The leadership appointment of the Strategic Plans Division comes directly from the Army HQ in Rawalpindi. [8] Designated as a Director-General, the general officer is a three-star rank who reports directly to chief of army staff. [8] There are four security directorates for each strategic organization and each directorate is led by Brigadier. [9]

Initially, the active-duty members of 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 [9] but since 2012 SPD has been training these recruits in its own academy known as Pakistan’s Centre of Excellence for Nuclear Security (PCENS) [10] [11] located in Chakri near Rawalpindi. [12] This training facility is modeled on US National Nuclear Security Administration's Federal Protective Forces academy. [9]

Special Response Force

Special Response Force (SRF) is the special forces unit of SPD Force. [13] SRF is based on training techniques of SSG and has retired SSG commandos as training staff. [14]

Weapons

SPD Force's primary weapons are G3, Type 56 and Type 81 assault rifles.

Director Generals

Directors-General of Strategic Planning DivisionStart of TermEnd of Term
Major-General Ziauddin Butt
(As Combat Development Directorate)		19901993
Lieutenant-General Zulfikar Ali Khan
(As Combat Development Directorate)		19932001
Lieutenant-General Khalid KidwaiFebruary 2000December 2013
Lieutenant-General Zubair Hyatt December 2013April 2015
Lieutenant-General Mazhar JamilApril 2015September 2017
Lieutenant-General Sarfraz Sattar September 2017November 2019 [15]
Lieutenant-General Nadeem Zaki ManjNovember 2019October 2022
Lieutenant-General Yusuf JamalOctober 2022Present

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pakistan Armed Forces</span> Combined military forces of Pakistan

The Pakistan Armed Forces are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consist of three formally uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are backed by several paramilitary forces such as the National Guard and the Civil Armed Forces. A critical component to the armed forces' structure is the Strategic Plans Division Force, which is responsible for the maintenance and safeguarding of Pakistan's tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile and assets. The President of Pakistan is the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces and the chain of command is organized under the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) alongside the respective Chiefs of staffs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. All branches are systemically coordinated during joint operations and missions under the Joint Staff Headquarters (JSHQ).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pakistan Army</span> Land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces

The Pakistan Army, commonly known as the Pak Army, is the land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the supreme commander of the army. The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), a four-star general, commands the army. The Army was established in August 1947 after Pakistan gained independence from the United Kingdom. According to statistics provided by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in 2024, the Pakistan Army has approximately 560,000 active duty personnel, supported by the Pakistan Army Reserve, the National Guard and the Civil Armed Forces. Pakistan Army is the sixth-largest army in the world and the largest in the Muslim world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Command Authority (Pakistan)</span> Federal agency of the Government of Pakistan.

The National Command Authority (NCA) is the authority responsible for safeguarding the national security of Pakistan through command, control and operational decisions regarding Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Special Service Group (Navy)</span> Special operations force of the Pakistan Navy

The Pakistan Navy Special Service Group is the special operations force tasked with the conducting the small-unit based military operations in all environmental formats of the sea, air, and land by adopting to the tactics of the unconventional warfare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tariq Majid</span> Pakistani general

General Tariq MajidNI(M) HI(M) LoH is a retired four-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army who served as the 13th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from 2007 to 2010, the principal and highest-ranking military adviser in the Pakistan Armed Forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaheen-III</span> Pakistani Medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM)

The Shaheen-III, is a land-based medium range ballistic missile, which was test fired for the first time by military service on 9 March 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pakistan Marines</span> Military unit

The Pakistan Marines or simply as Pak Marines, is an expeditionary and amphibious warfare uniform service branch within the Pakistan Navy, consisting of the naval officers and other personnel to perform their duties within the Marines. Pakistan Marines are responsible for providing force protection in littorals, using the mobility of the Pakistan Navy to provide creeks defence, ground based air defence and Force protection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of Defence Production (Pakistan)</span> Ministry of the Government of Pakistan

The Ministry of Defence Production abbreviated as MoDP, is an executive ministry of the federal Government of Pakistan with objectives of development and production of ordnance and machinery for the Pakistan Armed Forces.

General Khawaja Ziauddin Abbasi, also known as Ziauddin Butt, is a retired four-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army, who served as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), for few hours, until Chairman joint chiefs General Pervez Musharraf reasserted the command and control of the military despite his termination on 12 October 1999.

The Pakistan Army General Headquarters attack, was a hostage-rescue mission carried by SSG Division on 10 October 2009, when 10 gunmen in military uniform opened fire on the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. The attack killed nine soldiers, nine militants and two civilians and was a major escalation in Pakistan's domestic insurgency. One militant was wounded and captured by security forces. Soon after the attack, the militants infiltrated the security buildings where 22 civilian and military officials were held hostage by the militants. The Pakistan Army immediately launched a hostage rescue operation led by the SSG Division, Army Special Forces and the 13th Regular Regiment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Special Service Group</span> Special operations force of the Pakistan Army

The Pakistan Army Special Service Group is the special operations forces of the Pakistan Army. They are also known by their nickname of "Maroon Berets" due to their headgear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval Strategic Forces Command (Pakistan)</span> Pakistan Navys strategic field formation.

The Pakistan Navy Strategic Forces Command, is a strategic and missile formation of the Pakistan Navy. Headquartered in Navy HQ in Islamabad, the strategic command controls sea-based guided and cruise missile system— both conventional and nuclear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pakistan Army Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering</span> Pakistan armys staff corps for maintenance & repairs.

The Pakistan Army Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering is a military administrative and the engineering staff branch of the Pakistan Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pakistan–United States military relations</span> Military relations between Pakistan and the United States

The military relations between Pakistan and the United States have been present since the two established diplomatic relations in 1947. The United States and Pakistan's military have historically close ties and it was once called "America's most allied ally in Asia" by Dwight D. Eisenhower, reflecting shared interests in security and stability in South Asia, Central Asia as well as in regions covering Eastern Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zubair Mahmood Hayat</span> 16th Chairman Pakistani Joint Chiefs of Staff (born 1960)

General Zubair Mahmood HayatNI(M) HI(M) is a retired four-star rank army general of the Pakistan Army who served as the 16th Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from 28 November 2016 until his retirement on 27 November 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qamar Javed Bajwa</span> Former general and 10th Chief of Army Staff (Pakistan)

Qamar Javed Bajwa is a retired Pakistani army general who served as the tenth chief of the army staff of Pakistan from 29 November 2016 to 29 November 2022. In 2018 he was ranked 68th in the Forbes list of the World's Most Powerful People.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asif Ghafoor</span> 20th Director-General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (Pakistan)

Lieutenant General Asif GhafoorHI(M) is a retired three-star ranking general in the Pakistani Army, who most recently served as the president of the National Defence University uptill 2024. Previously, Ghafoor served as the Corps Commander Quetta and the 20th director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sahir Shamshad Mirza</span> 18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee

General Sahir Shamshad MirzaNI(M)HI(M) is a four-star general in the Pakistan Army, currently serving as the 18th Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee appointed to the post on 27 November 2022. Prior to his appointment as Commander of X Corps at Rawalpindi, he previously served as 37th Chief of General Staff until he was succeeded by Azhar Abbas.

Major General Sana Ullah Khan Niazipscafwc also known as Soldiers’ General, was a two-star rank general in the Pakistan Army serving as G.O.C 17th Division (Malakand) when he was assassinated in a roadside blast. He was posthumously awarded the Sitara-e-Basalat and Hilal-i-Imtiaz on Pakistan Day in 2014 and 2015.

References

  1. ↑ International Institute for Strategic Studies (February 2024). The Military Balance 2024. London: Routledge. ISBN   9781032780047.
  2. ↑ "No PR71/2013-ISPR". www.ispr.gov.pk. ISPR. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  3. ↑ "COAS reposes full confidence in Pakistan's nuclear security regime". ARY News. November 13, 2015. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "Kidwai to retire as head of Pakistan's n-programme caretakers". The Express Tribune. December 18, 2013. Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Khan, Feroz (7 November 2012). Eating Grass: The Making of the Pakistani Bomb. Stanford, CA, USA: Stanford University Press. p. 500. ISBN   978-0-8047-8480-1. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  6. ↑ "Strategic Plans Division Force". Archived from the original on 4 August 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  7. ↑ "700 trainees join SPD security force". The Nation. November 7, 2011. Archived from the original on 2 July 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  8. 1 2 "1,000 SPD Security Soldiers complete training in Abbotabad centers". Samaa. April 23, 2013. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 "Nuclear Learning in Pakistan Since 1998" (PDF). School of Social Sciences, University of Western Australia. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  10. ↑ "ISPR Hilal Magazine - Nuclear Security is a Sacred Responsibility: COAS". www.hilal.gov.pk. ISPR. Archived from the original on 2016-05-04. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  11. ↑ "COAS expresses confidence in Pakistan's nuclear security". www.dawn.com. DAWN. 13 November 2015. Archived from the original on 25 April 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  12. ↑ "INAUGURATION CEREMONY of SPD TRAINING ACADEMY". www.ispr.gov.pk. ISPR. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  13. ↑ Ceremony, SSF. "Wing Award Ceremony (SRF), Passing Out Parade (SSBC) & Expo at SPD Training Academy Rawalpindi". www.pakistanarmy.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  14. ↑ Release, Press. "No PR99/2013-ISPR". www.ispr.gov.pk. ISPR. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  15. ↑ "Lt Gen Sarfraz Sattar appointed SPD DG". Archived from the original on 2018-02-12. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.