The Naval Strategic Forces Command ( ur, بحریہ حکمت عملی افواج reporting name: NSFC), is one of the three major unified commands of 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 ...

responsible for the defence and protection of naval and naval-nuclear assets in the country. The command was commissioned on 24 June 2004, at Naval Headquarters (NHQ) after the concept was approved by then-Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Shahid Karimullah. The Naval Command is responsible for operational planning, directives, and deployment of nuclear weapons on its naval vessels. The Naval Command provides vision, leadership, doctrinal guidance, resources and oversight to ensure component naval special operations forces are ready to meet the operational requirements of combatant commander. It is a vital part of the Pakistan Strategic Forces Command, and directly reports to

Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC), ( ur, ); is an administrative body of senior high-ranking uniformed military leaders of the unified Pakistan Armed Forces who advises the civilian Government of Pakistan, National Security Council, D ...

. The Commanders of the NSFC Command ranges from senior flag officer of

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

to Vice Admiral rank depending on assignment nature.

Military overview

Operational rationale

Since 1999, the Navy had been considering the proposal of establishing the nuclear and military communication command after witnessing the successful operations of the PAF's Strategic Command. Furthermore, during the heights of the border war with

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in 1999, the country's strategic delivery system was not operational; something that would have put Pakistan under serious disadvantage if the conflict went nuclear. After the

9/11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated Suicide attack, suicide List of terrorist incidents, terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and the subsequent

' military actions in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

changes the strategic policy on the larger dependence on the navy as the large portion of the

Pakistan military 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 ...

engages in Western fronts. The idea of "

Second strike In nuclear strategy, a retaliatory strike or second-strike capability is a country's assured ability to respond to a nuclear attack with powerful nuclear retaliation against the attacker. To have such an ability (and to convince an opponent of it ...

" was now swiftly shifted to navy guidance as early as in 2001. Furthermore, the navy also realized the importance of having a robust naval force and decided to commit greater resources for its development; consequently, tactics and strategic planning of PN also underwent a shift. The work on establishing the command as started in 2000 under the command of Chief of Naval Staff Shahid Karimulla strongly advocated for the pursuit of idea of "

". Admiral Karim rationalized that "since the Navy had been considering the deployment of nuclear weapons aboard its submarines; it had to keep pace with developments in India." Although, Admiral

Karim Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim or Kerim) ( ar, کریم) is a common given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honorable". It is also one of the Names of God in Islam in the Quran. Given name Karim * Karim Ab ...

later left the option open, saying that the country had no plans to deploy nuclear weapons on its submarines, and that it would do so only if "forced to". In 2012, its first headquarters was inaugurated by the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral

Asif Sandila Admiral Mohammad Asif Sandila (Urdu: محمد ﺁصف سندیلہ; born: 1954, ), is a retired four-star admiral in the Pakistan Navy who was the 14th Chief of Naval Staff of the Pakistan Navy. Prior to this command appointment, Sandila brie ...

with

Tanveer Faiz Vice Admiral Tanveer Faiz (Urdu:تنوير فیض) ), is a retired three-star Pakistani naval officer and former vice admiral of the Pakistan Navy. He also served in university administration as the rector of Bahria University from 2015 until ...

becoming its first commander. The military media command, the ISPR described the NSFC as the "custodian of the nation's 2nd strike capability, will strengthen Pakistan's policy of Credible Minimum Deterrence and ensure regional stability."

References

{{Pakistan Navy Military units and formations established in 2004 2004 establishments in Pakistan Commands of Pakistan Navy Strategic forces of Pakistan