Pakistan Flight-Tests Its First Indigenous Air-to-Air Missile, Fa’az, From a JF-17: What Is and Is Not Known
The Pakistan Air Force announced on Nov. 3, 2026 a flight test of Fa’az, its first indigenously developed air-to-air missile. The missile was launched from an underwing pylon of a JF-17 Thunder. The official statement described it as having an advanced terminal guidance system able to engage aerial targets at longer ranges; it gave no range or target information.
Which Fa’az was fired?
According to The War Zone, the missile in the footage is the Fa’az-IIR, with an imaging infrared seeker, not the separately developed active radar-guided Fa’az-RF. An IIR missile homes on a target’s heat signature; at 100 km or more it would need the launch aircraft to supply initial targeting, with the seeker switching on in the terminal phase (lock-on after launch).
Background
Pakistan’s state-owned GIDS showed mock-ups of both variants at IDEF in 2023. It advertised ranges above 100 km, a top speed of about Mach 3.5, and seeker detection ranges of 25 km (RF) and 40 km (IIR). These are manufacturer claims and vary with the engagement and the launch aircraft’s energy state.
The design has been compared with China’s SD-10/PL-12. IISS’s Douglas Barrie raised the possibility, unconfirmed, that the seeker is Chinese-supplied; GIDS says the product was developed locally.
What is not known
- Range, speed and the distance of the test shot.
- Whether a target was hit; the short video shows no intercept.
- When it will enter service and whether it will be exported.
Turkish counterparts
In the same class are Türkiye’s beyond-visual-range GÖKDOĞAN and within-visual-range BOZDOĞAN missiles from TÜBİTAK SAGE. A test of Fa’az and missiles already in service are not at the same maturity level, so comparisons should use only announced specifications.
Sources: Pakistan Air Force DGPR announcement, Nov. 3, 2026; The War Zone; Radio Pakistan.
