Pakistan announced the raising of an Army Rocket Forces Command (ARFC) on August 14, 2025. The new organisation will include a command headquarters with command-and-control staff, providing leadership to its constituent artillery divisions and logistic echelons.

Pakistan already maintains strategic force commands for its three services under the Nuclear Command Authority, tasked with operating nuclear-capable missile forces. However, it lacked a dedicated conventional rocket force command to hold and operationalise conventional rockets and missile assets.

While Pakistan has long possessed short- and medium-range missiles with dual-use potential, it refrained from employing them in a conventional role to ensure responsible use of nuclear-capable systems. India, by contrast, has integrated its dual-use missiles, such as the BrahMos cruise missile, into conventional field formations – an act that undermines nuclear restraint in South Asia.

On May 6, India fired BrahMos missiles in conventional mode against civilian targets, escalating further by targeting military installations on May 9. Such actions, employing dual-use nuclear-capable missiles against another nuclear power, risked catastrophic escalation. A strike on Pakistan’s nuclear facilities – warned of by US President Trump – could have triggered uncontrollable consequences, leaving Pakistan in a dangerous quandary over how to respond to India’s reckless gambit.

Pakistan responded audaciously yet carefully, employing its........

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