Heavy Industries Taxila (

Reporting name NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform manne ...

: HIT), ( ur, ) is a Pakistani state-owned

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

military contractor The arms industry, also known as the arms trade, is a global industry which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology. It consists of a commercial industry involved in the research and development, engineering, production, and ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

conglomerate, and military corporation located in

Taxila Taxila or Takshashila (; sa, तक्षशिला; pi, ; , ; , ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area and ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, Pakistan.Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT)
GlobalSecurity.org website, Retrieved 28 September 2021 HIT promotes, markets, engineers, develops, and undertakes heavy engineering works for Pakistan's

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

and for the civilian

law enforcement agencies A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Jurisdiction LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction. LEA ...

. It has extensive experience in the overhaul and upgrade of tracked armored fighting vehicles for the

Pakistan Armed Forces 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 ...

. Leadership in HIT is provided through the appointments made in the GHQ by the chief of army staff who approves the appointment to its chairmanship. Besides developing the heavy works, HIT also provides military gears for Pakistan's

, building

krytron The krytron is a cold-cathode gas-filled tube intended for use as a very high-speed switch, somewhat similar to the thyratron. It consists of a sealed glass tube with four electrodes. A small triggering pulse on the grid electrode switches the ...

and developing technology involving the

solid-state lighting Solid-state lighting (SSL) is a type of lighting that uses semiconductor light-emitting diodes (LEDs), organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), or polymer light-emitting diodes (PLED) as sources of illumination rather than electrical filaments, pl ...

. In 2004, HIT had a work force of about 6000 engineers and highly skilled persons.

Production

Main battle tanks (MBT)

* Al-khalid II ''(under development)'' * Al-Khalid I *

Al-khalid The Al-Khalid ( ur, —, literally "The Eternal Tank") is a Pakistani main battle tank developed by Heavy Industries Taxila since the 1990s. It is based on the Chinese Type 90-IIM tan, whose original prototype was developed by China Nort ...

Al-Zarrar The Al-Zarrar ( Urdu: الضرار), is a third generation main battle tank (MBT), currently in the services of the Pakistan Army since 2004. The tank is named after Muslim warrior Zarrar bin Al-Azwar. It is a highly upgraded version of Pakis ...

Infantry fighting vehicles (IFV)

* Viper IFV – The prototype

IFV An infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), also known as a mechanized infantry combat vehicle (MICV), is a type of armoured fighting vehicle used to carry infantry into battle and provide direct-fire support. The 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed For ...

was showcased in IDEAS 2018. The IFV is based on APC Saad/ M113 chassis with 6 road wheels, weighs 16 tons, and has appliqué armour. Viper can accommodate 13 fully equipped troops; and has a modified Turra 30 remotely controlled weapon station (RCWS) armed with a Slovak-made Shipunov 2A42 30 mm automatic cannon, Kalashnikov PKT 7.62 mm medium machine gun (MG), two ready-to-use 9M113 Konkurs (AT-6 'Spandrel') anti-tank guided missiles and smoke dischargers. * Al-Hamza –

based on APC Saad, fitted with 25 mm

automatic cannon An autocannon, automatic cannon or machine cannon is a fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large- caliber ( or more) armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary shells, as opposed to the smaller-caliber kinetic projectiles ( bu ...

, an export product not in service with the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

Armoured personnel carriers (APC)

* Dragoon II – Armoured multi-role vehicle built with a supervision and support o
DUMA Engineering
of Belgium. * APC Saad –

Armoured personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...

based on the

APC Talha Talha is an armoured personnel carrier, armoured personnel carrier (APC) designed and manufactured in Pakistan by APC Factory of Heavy Industries Taxila, Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT). The vehicle is based on the M113 armored personnel carrier, ...

design. Modified with extended hull and six road wheels, 14.5 mm machine gun, improved armour protection and a more powerful engine supplied by Germany's MTU. Accommodates 13 fully equipped troops. *

–

based on M113 chassis with five road wheels, accommodates 11 fully equipped troops. 250 delivered to the

by 2006. Possibly replaced by the APC Saad.

Reconnaissance vehicles

* Maaz –

Anti-tank Anti-tank warfare originated from the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the Triple Entente deployed the first tanks in 1916, the German Empire developed the first anti-tank weapons. The first deve ...

/ Air defense missile carrier Based on the

, armed with the

Baktar-Shikan The HJ-8 or Hongjian-8 and Baktar Shikan (Pakistani version) () is a second generation tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided anti-tank missile system which was originally deployed by China's People's Liberation Army since the late 1980s. ...

anti-tank guided missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulder ...

(ATGM) launcher and operated by a crew of four. There is capacity for eight extra rounds and the missile firing unit on the roof is retracted into the cabin for reloading. Its ''

Mouz Mouz (stylized as MOUZ), formerly mousesports, is a professional esports organisation based in Germany. It fields teams in several games but is particularly known for its '' CS:GO'' team. MOUZ was one of the founding members of the G7 Teams. ...

'' variant is armed with either the Anza or

RBS 70 RBS 70 (Robotsystem 70) is a man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) designed for anti-aircraft warfare in all climate zones and with little to no support from other forces. Originally designed and manufactured by the Swedish defence firm of ...

air-defence missile systems. The missile firing unit on the roof is retracted into the cabin for reloading. * Sakb – Armoured command vehicle based on

Engineering & support vehicles

* Al-Hadeed –

Armoured recovery vehicle An armoured recovery vehicle (ARV) is typically a powerful tank or armoured personnel carrier (APC) chassis modified for use during combat for military vehicle recovery (towing) or repair of battle-damaged, stuck, and/or inoperable armoured f ...

based on APC Saad.

Armoured utility vehicles

* Al-Qaswa – Armoured logistics vehicle based on

. * Mohafiz series –

Internal security vehicle An internal security vehicle (ISV), also known as an armored security vehicle (ASV), is an armoured personnel carrier/ armoured car used for supporting contingency operations. Design Security vehicles are typically armed with a turreted heavy ma ...

** ''Mohafiz-II'' – Based on the

Land Rover Defender The Land Rover Defender (initially introduced as the Land Rover 110 / One Ten, and in 1984 joined by the Land Rover 90 / Ninety, plus the new, extra-length Land Rover 127 in 1985) is a series of British off-road cars and pickup trucks. They c ...

. ** ''Mohafiz-III (Protector)'' – Based on the Land Cruiser 79. ** ''Mohafiz-IV (Interceptor)'' – Upgraded variant of

Mohafiz (vehicle) The Mohafiz is a family of internal security vehicles designed and manufactured by Heavy Industries Taxila with Cavalier Group also designing later production models. Development Early in 2000, HIT started design work on a new 4×4 internal secu ...

series based on the Land Cruiser 79.

Weapons

* 125mm Smooth bore tank gun – for Al-Khalid & Al-Zarrar tanks. * 155mm Self propelled (SP) gun – for M109A2 (overhauled) self-propelled howitzer.

Former products

* Type 85-IIAP – Main battle tank produced under license. * Type 69-IIMP – Main battle tank produced under license. * M113 –

produced under license. ''(APC rebuild & overhaul facility is still running)''.

References

External links

* {{authority control Defence companies of Pakistan Manufacturing plants in Pakistan Military research installations of Pakistan Technology companies established in 1971 Government-owned companies of Pakistan Pakistani companies established in 1971