KARACHI: Pakistan on Friday successfully tested its first indigenous armed drone named Burraq, and its laser guided missile named Barq.

The drone has the ability to fly in all types of weather conditions and strike its targets with pinpoint accuracy.

Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif attended the ceremony and witnessed the test fire of the new missile on static and moving targets.

Speaking on the occasion, General Raheel said this newly developed arsenal will increase the military’s capacity in fighting terrorism. He commended engineers, scientists and technicians for their untiring efforts to develop this state of the art technology.

The army chief termed it a great national achievement and a momentous occasion in the history of the country.

“Let’s join hands to take Pakistan forward in respective fields,” General Raheel said in his message to the fellow countrymen.

The military announced that a very effective force multiplier had been added to the inventory of the armed forces.

In November 2013, the military had indigenously developed surveillance-capable drones. The induction of two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), called the ‘Burraq’ and ‘Shahpar’ systems, in the Pakistan Army and Air Force was seen as a landmark and historic event.

Pakistan already has several types of unarmed surveillance drones in operation, but ‘Burraq’ and ‘Shahpar’ were the first surveillance drones to be developed locally.

The drones have been developed in cooperation with the National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM) is a civilian controlled Pakistani scientific research organisation.

An unarmed version of the Shahpar was unveiled for the first time at the International Defence Exhibition (IDEAS) in Karachi.

Industry insiders say that the Chinese government has also reportedly offered to sell Pakistan an armed drone it has produced, the CH-3, which can carry two laser-guided missiles or bombs.