As of late 1999 this facility, variously called the National Defense Complex, or the National Development Complex or National Development Centre, was under the leadership of the Director General of the NDC, Dr. Samar Mubarik Mand.
The Prime Minister laid the foundation of the National Defense Complex (NDC) during 1993, and the Shaheen missile program was initiated in 1995 and assigned to the NDC. The Shaheen project used the resources that were available within the various other institutions in Pakistan, supplemented with infrastructure created at the National Development Complex for capabilities which were not available elsewhere in Pakistan. The facilities of SUPARCO were utilized in the Shaheen project, along with the facilities of industry in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat and other cities. Missile components from these various facilities were brought to the NDC for final integration.
The NDC reportedly is staffed by specialists from all of the related missile and nuclear developmental organizations in Pakistan, supplemented by about a dozen Chinese technicians who work on missile guidance and control and solid-fuel production. It is reported that the China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corporation (CPMIEC) provided Pakistan with M-11 missile gyroscopes, accelerometers, on-board computers, and other related equipment.
In a 1995 National Intelligence Estimate, the US intelligence community concluded that China was providing blueprints and equipment to Pakistan to build a plant for making M-11 missiles. There was disagreement, as to whether the plant would manufacture some major missile components or whole copies of the M-11 missile. Construction of the plant in the city of Rawalpindi allegedly began in 1995, with completion anticipated within two years. On June 30 1997, Time Magazine reported that US intelligence satellites had acquired imagery of a large facility with doorways large enough to roll out M-11 or M-9 missiles, north of Rawalpindi at Fatehganj. The November 1997 report by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Proliferation: Threat and Response) confirmed construction of the facility.
Pakistan could be in possession of more than 80 M-11 missiles and 12 to 20 missile launchers. It is reported that the initial agreement with China was for $516 million for technology transfer, with one-third of the amount on 64 missiles.
By virtue of these international non-proliferation treaties, it is becoming increasingly difficult for countries like Pakistan to rely on imported and ready-to-use weapon systems. In order to address the national security issues in the current scenario, a policy of self-reliance and indigenised weapon production is emphatically being promoted in Pakistan.
National Development Complex was created with an objective of developing an infrastructure for indigenous development and production of modern weapon systems. It has been the goal of NDC to deliver reliable and state-of-the art weapon systems and military hardware at competitive prices. The National Development Complex manufactures a variety of products, including Energetic Materials and Propellants like HTPB, AP, A1 Powder, HX752, MAPO, and Hydrazine etc, along with all types of air-burst and chemical fuses, Telemetry Systems and Radar Altimeters, Pyrotechnics and initiatory devices, Missile Systems and Power Sources. Since its creation, NDC has made progress in producing a variety of weapon systems.
Other work includes telemetry systems, radar altimeters, warhead controllers, safety & arming systems, and fuses, as well as production of various types of detonators, pyrotechnics, and initiatory devices is also underway.
Most of the research designing and analysis work is carried out at the NDC research centers. Modern computational facilities are maintained at these centers with state-of-the-art analytic and computational software for design conceptualisation, virtual prototyping, analysis, and performance optimisation. These centers are carrying out work in areas as diverse as aerodynamics, structures, flight dynamics & controls, guidance & navigation, simulations, propulsion and detonics.
The Aerodynamic & Structural Analysis Centre (ASAC) is a leading center for aerodynamics, hydrodynamics, gas dynamics, weapon designing structural analysis, computer software development and networking. The Guidance & Control Centre (GCC) brings together expertise for the design and implementation of modern navigation systems. The Design Division carries out modeling & simulation, robust digital control system design and implementation, hardware in the loop simulations, navigation and guidance system design. GCC also carries out work in the areas of trajectory analysis and software development, as well as reverse engineering of complex electromechanical systems such as actuators and inertial sensors is in progress.
The production divisions of NDC maintain modern manufacturing facilities that are equipped with CNC lathes & milling machines die-casting machine, heavy metal working facility, dynamic balancing machines, and co-ordinate-measurement machines. A heat-treatment facility has also been set-up with sub-surface fumaces and quenching pits. The mechanical properties of various metallic parts can be suitably enhanced to enable the weapon structures to withstand the demanding operational environment.
The NDC propellant plants producing all type of materials required for solid rocket motors are also in operation Strict quality control procedures are adopted for qualifying the various propellant chemicals and materials. A modern bomb filling plant is set-up for the explosive filling of the 500-lb bombs. Latest techniques of plant operations and explosive handling are employed at this plant for safe operations and high production capacities.
A set-up for carrying out static testing of rocket motors has been developed at the Flight Test Range. Prior to the flight trials, missile solid rocket motors are tested on ground. Various motor parameters including thrust, chamber pressure, burning time, propellant consumption rate, temperatures, motor vibrations, and mechanical strains, etc. are monitored and recorded during the motor operation. Motor auxiliary systems like the thrust termination system and thrust vectoring system are also validated during these static tests.
Towards attaining self-reliance, NDC has also undertaken the development of Launchers, alongwith the development of automatic missile testing and launch control system (ATLCS). The ATLCS is used to automatically carry out the pre-launch testing procedures and the sequence of launching operations. In contrast to fixed launch sites, launchers provide the flexibility of launching missiles from remote place and at locations closer to the geographic boundanes.
Medium resolution imagery coverage is available from LANDSAT, SPOT, and IRS-1C/D. Evaluation of browse imagery from these sources does not disclose an evident vegetation anomaly that might be associated with this facility. One or more scenes from one of these sources will probably be required in order to identify the exact location of the facility in order to task collection of high resolution imagery.
No high resolution imagery of this facility is presently available. Declassified CORONA imagery will be needed for negation and change extraction. As of 04 June 2000 Russian 2-meter resolution KVR-1000 imagery coverage was not available via the SPIN-2 service on TerraServer. As of 04 June 2000 archival Space Imaging IKONOS 1-meter imagery available on the CARTERRA™ Archive. However, the three scenes in the probable area of this facility were all 100% cloud covered.