The announcement of setting up an Army Rocket Force Command (ARFC) by the Pakistan PM on the occasion of the Independence Day should not raise many eyebrows, having been in the offing for a while. Many have linked the timing to an immediate fallout of the disastrous Op BUNYAN UN MARSOOS, while some have opined that the creation of ARFC was necessitated by a need for a doctrinal change, particularly after deterrence failed in Uri 2016, Op Balakot in 2019 and failed again, this time with disastrous consequences post Pahalgam, when the heartland Punjab was struck with impunity for the first time since 1971.
This paper is an attempt to understand the internal debate within Pakistan that precipitated the announcement of an ARFC and, in particular, the failure of the Full Spectrum Deterrence (FSD) that was once touted as Pakistan’s answer to Indian Cold Start doctrine.
