2. Pakistan Ordinance Factory
History:
In the time of partition the 16 ordinance factories of British India were in the
location of present India. Pakistan first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali khan issued
a directive within four months of the creation of Pakistan to establish an
ordnance factory in collaboration with British Royal Ordinance. Pakistan's
second Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin took part in the opening
ceremony of the first four POF workshops in the small town of Wah.
Introduction:
Pakistan ordinance factory found in 1951 with the objective of producing
arms for the armed forces of Pakistan. POF was established in 1951. Pakistan
Ordnance Factories is the largest defence industrial complex in Pakistan.
Pakistan Ordnance Factories or POF is a defence industrial complex producing
conventional arms and ammunition in Pakistan under the Ministry of Defence
Production.
POF is a government organization operating under the Defence Production
Division in Pakistan’s Ministry of Defence. The Pakistan Ordnance Factories is
a complex of arms and ammunition manufacturing factories provided the
weapons and ammunitions to the Pakistan Army and all their foreign clients.
However, since POF can not produce the complete inventory of the Pakistani
Army's armament needs, a high content of the Armed Force requirements
are imported.
More than 50 years of continuous growth and development POF is a
sprawling industrial complex of the following 14 Factories and 7 subsidiaries:
Factories
1 Weapons Factory
2 Bombs & Grenades Factory
3 Tungsten Carbide Factory
4 Machine Gun Factory
5 Filling Factory
6Propellants Factory
7 Heavy Artillery Ammo Factory
8 Small Arms Ammo Factory
9 Brass Mill
10 Tungsten Alloy Factory
11 Tank Amrno Factory
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12 Explosives Factory
13 Medium Artillery Ammo Factory
14 Clothing Factory
3. Subsidiaries
1 Wah industries Ltd.
2 Wah Nobel (Pvt) Ltd.
3 Wah Nobel Chemicals Ltd.
4 Wah Nobel Detonators Ltd.
5 Wah Nobel Acetate Ltd.
6 Attock Chemicals (Pvt) Ltd.
7 Hi-Tech Plastic (Pvt) Ltd.
The two main subsidiaries namely Wah Industries Ltd and Wah Nobel Ltd.
were established to utilize spare capacities of Factories for commercial
applications but later on Hi-Tech Plastics Ltd, Wah Nobel Chemical Ltd, Wah
Nobel Detonators Ltd and Attock Chemicals Ltd were set up to meet the
requirement of civil market. These subsidiaries are earning significant profits
annually thus adding to the national wealth. POF produce approximately 70
major products for supply of Army, Navy and Air Force. Apart from raw
materials, all other inputs needed for the manufacture of arms and
ammunition such as brass, gilding metal and clad steel, steel products,
carbide and tungsten alloy products, fuzes, rocket and artillery propellants,
all types of explosives are produced in POF.
Modernization.
The past 50 years have seen a breathtaking expansion and modernization.
POF which started with the manufacture of 303 rifles and its ammunition with
an old plant of world war II vintage, has since moved into the era of state of
the art technology, computer aided design and computer aided manufacture.
POF were confined mostly to the traditional products in the first 15 to 20
years but after passing through different phases of expansion, diversification
and consolidation, POF has come of age by taking a quantum jump to the
modern state of art manufacturing technology During the last ten years or so
POF has emerged as an armament manufacturer of international repute. POF
is alive to the the emerging technologies in armament production and
interacts with the world renowned manufacturers and R&D establishments at
different forums to keep itself abreast of the latest developments.
Exports.
POF's participation in various International defence exhibitions and its
effective marketing strategy has earned it an international recognition. POF
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has been at one time or the other exporting arms and ammunition to 30
countries around the globe. During the last three years, POF recorded high
exports of arms & ammo and was awarded the FPCCI trophy for exports.
4. Military delegations and heads of States of various countries have been
visiting POF and taking with them an ever-lasting impression of the wide
range of products and their excellent quality. POF produce approximately 70
major products for supply of Army, Navy and Air Force. The main products
include automatic rifle; light medium and heavy machine guns, complete
range of mortar and artillery ammunitions, aircraft ammunition and anti-
aircraft ammunitions, tank ammunition and anti-tank ammunitions, bombs,
grenades, land mines, pyrotechnics and signal stores etc.
Starting form raw materials, all other inputs needed for the manufacture of
arms and ammunition such as brass, gilding metal clad steel, steel products
carbide and tungsten alloy products all types of gun, rocket and artillery
propellants, and all types of explosives are produced in POF.
POF COLLABORATION WITH OTHER COUNTRIES
POF is a group of fourteen factories that produce automatic rifles, machine
guns, mortar and artillery ammunition, air-craft and anti-aircraft
ammunition, tank and anti-tank ammunition, bombs, grenades, military
pyrotechnics and landmines.
Part of POF's strategy is to manufacture weaponry in collaboration with
companies from other countries. It reports such collaboration with Royal
Ordnance Factories of the UK, Rheinmetal of Germany, 'many' with China
and Czechoslovakia and 'an excellent joint venture' with SAAB for the
production of commercial explosives. It produces assault rifles, sub-machine
guns and pistols under licence from Heckler & Koch.
POF PROJECTS
The country now boasts a powerful industrial, technological and research-based
developing and manufacturing sector for its armed forces and exports a wide variety
of small and large weapons ranging from modern fighter jets, battle tanks, armored
vehicles, frigates and submarines to unmanned aerial vehicles and high tech firearms
and personal grenade launchers for urban combat. Some of these items were on
display at IDEAS 2008.
Pakistan has become an increasingly important player in the world arms industry, a
global industry and business which manufactures and sells weapons and military
technology and equipment. Arms production companies, also referred to as Defense
Contractors, produce arms mainly for the armed forces of nation states. Products
include guns, ammunition, missiles, military aircraft, military vehicles, ships,
electronic Systems, and more. The arms industry also conducts significant research
and development. Pakistan's major defense manufacturing companies are owned and
operated by Pakistan's military.
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According to Business Monitor, Pakistan's defense industry contains over 20 major
public sector units (PSUs) and over 100 private-sector firms. The majority of major
5. weapons systems production and assembly is undertaken by the state-owned PSUs,
while the private-sector supplies parts, components, bladed weapons and field
equipment.
Major PSUs include the Pakistan Ordnance Factory
(POF), Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT), Pakistan
Aeronautical Complex, Karachi Shipyard and
Engineering Works (KSEW) and the Pakistan
Machine Tool Factory. Multinational presence in
Pakistan is limited, although joint production or
engineering support in the development of certain
armaments has recently occurred with companies
such as DCN International and the Chengdu Aircraft
Industry Group.
JF-17 Jointly developed by
Paksiatn and China
IDEAS 2000, Pakistan's first major arms show, was organized after former President
Musharraf assumed leadership of the country in the wake of the 1999 bloodless coup
that toppled the Nawaz Sharif government. At the show, the former president
emphasized the need for the growth of Pakistan's defense industry and private sector
involvement in R&D, manufacturing and marketing of arms. Held every two years
since the year 2000, the show has become a runaway success. It has helped
Pakistan and other friendly nations to show off their wares, find customers, share
knowledge, build bilateral partnerships, encourage scientific innovation and learning
among young people and made visitors and Pakistani citizens more aware of the role
the defense industry plays in national defense and economy.
World Arms Market
It is estimated that yearly, over USD 1 trillion are spent on military expenditures
worldwide (2% of World GDP). Part of this goes to the procurement of military
hardware and services from the military industry. The combined arms sales of the
top 100 largest arms producing companies amounted to an estimated USD 315
billion in 2006. In 2004 over USD 30 billion were spent in the international arms
trade (excluding domestic arms sales). Many industrialized countries have a
domestic arms industry to supply their own military forces. Some countries also have
a substantial legal or illegal domestic trade in weapons for use by its citizens. The
illegal trade in small arms is prevalent in many countries and regions affected by
political instability.
Pakistan's Arms Business
In a July 2008 interview with Pakistan's Dawn newspaper, Major General Mohammad
Farooq, Director General of the Defense Export Promotion Organization, claimed that
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Pakistan's defense exports have tripled to around USD 300 million because of the
quality of its ammunition, anti-tank guided missiles, rocket launchers and shoulder-
fired surface-to-air missiles. He said exports to South Asian, Middle Eastern and
6. African countries had increased significantly. It has been reported that Sri Lanka has
purchased cluster bombs, deep penetration bombs and rockets and UAVs from
Pakistan.
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7. Pakistan has been eager to boost its capabilities for
high-tech aerial warfare and restructure and
reorient its military to respond to the new and
emerging challenges of combating insurgents. A
number of public and private sector companies
have been engaged in research, development and
manufacturing of unmanned aerial vehicles as a
part of this initiative. The public sector companies
include Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Air
Weapons Complex and National Development
Complex. Flamingo - Satuma Pakistan
This growing interest by Pakistani military and also
foreign companies and governments has helped
spawn several private Pakistani UAV companies
specializing in air-frames, launch and propulsion,
flight control, tele-command and control systems,
signal intelligence, training simulators, etc. In
addition to Integrated Dynamics mentioned earlier,
other private companies involved in UAV
development and manufacturing include, East-West
Infinity, Satuma and Global Industrial Defense Mukhbar- Satuma Pakistan
Solutions.
Uqaab - Air Weapons Complex
Defence Production of Pakistan
Pakistan’s defence industry began with limited ordnance production facilities, basically leftover of the British
Colonial authorities. At the time of independence, there was hardly any industrial defence base in Pakistan.
Pakistan defence industry started from scratch. It has taken a series of significant moves to develop some key
areas to become self sufficient in defence production. This includes the creation of defence production division in
1972, later the establishment of defence export promotion organization.
In 2004, the division of defence Production has been given a status of full Ministry.
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