SPD Force | |
---|---|
عسکری حکمتِ عملی ڈیوژن فورس | |
Founded | 2 February 2000 |
Country | Pakistan |
Branch | National Command Authority |
Role | Strategic/Protection of nuclear materials |
Size | 60,000+ [1] |
Garrison/HQ | Joint Staff HQ in Rawalpindi, Punjab |
Nickname(s) | SPDF |
Commanders | |
Director-General of Strategic Plans Division Force | Lt-Gen. Yusuf Jamal |
Strategic Plans Division Force (SPD Force) is a paramilitary force tasked with responsibility of safeguarding and protecting of nuclear materials as well as providing security to nation's tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile and the strategic assets. [2] [3]
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.
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 a 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]
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 (SRF) is the special forces unit [13] of SPD Force with the strength of 25,000 personnel. [14] 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.
Directors-General of Strategic Planning Division | Start of Term | End of Term |
---|---|---|
Major-General Ziauddin Butt (As Combat Development Directorate) | 1990 | 1993 |
Lieutenant-General Zulfikar Ali Khan (As Combat Development Directorate) | 1993 | 2001 |
Lieutenant-General Khalid Kidwai | February 2000 | December 2013 |
Lieutenant-General Zubair Hyatt | December 2013 | April 2015 |
Lieutenant-General Mazhar Jamil | April 2015 | September 2017 |
Lieutenant-General Sarfraz Sattar | September 2017 | November 2019 [15] |
Lieutenant-General Nadeem Zaki Manj | November 2019 | October 2022 |
Lieutenant-General Yusuf Jamal | October 2022 | Present |
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).
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 2023, the Pakistan Army has approximately 560,000 active duty personnel, supported by the Pakistan Army Reserve, the National Guard and the Civil Armed Forces. Pakistani citizens can enlist for voluntary military service upon reaching 16 years of age, but cannot be deployed for combat until the age of 18 in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan.
The National Command Authority (NCA) is an independent federal agency of the Government of Pakistan that is responsible for safeguarding of the national security through the military applications of the nuclear science.
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The Ministry of Defence, is an executive ministry of the federal Government of Pakistan, tasked in defending national interests and territorial integrity of Pakistan. The MoD oversees mission execution of its policies and supervises all agencies of the government directly related to the national security and the Pakistan Armed Forces.
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The Air Force Strategic Command is a one of the major regional formation of the Pakistan Air Force headquartered at the Air HQ in Islamabad.
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