The Defence Science & Technology Organisation () is a

multi-disciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...

agency under the National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM) of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, dedicated for evaluation of

science and technology Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is an umbrella term used to group together the distinct but related technical disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The term is typically used in the context of ...

for use by the

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

. Created in 1963 in the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

, DESTO's clandestine work included reverse engineering of the foreign technology and to avoid

technological Technology is the application of conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible tools such as ute ...

surprise from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. A limited amount knowledge of DESTO's project is available and much of its work is kept under secrecy. Among its various responsibilities, it is Pakistan's national center of expertise in chemical and biological defence.

History

DESTO was established in 1963 by the

on the recommendation adopted from the National Science Commission. The DESTO was established in a view of avoiding any technological surprise from

. Since its foundation, scientists at DESTO reportedly started studying the

Wind tunnel A wind tunnel is "an apparatus for producing a controlled stream of air for conducting aerodynamic experiments". The experiment is conducted in the test section of the wind tunnel and a complete tunnel configuration includes air ducting to and f ...

and the applications of the

fluid dynamics In physics, physical chemistry and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids – liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including (the study of air and other gases in motion ...

; its contribution in the field of research and development is significant. During this time, DESTO began its secret programme on developing the rocket propelled 120- mm

caliber In guns, particularly firearms, but not #As a measurement of length, artillery, where a different definition may apply, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge ( ...

high explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

mortar ammunition, variable time fuze, and free flight rockets. Its further programmes included the evaluation and

reverse engineering Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompl ...

of the foreign technology for the use of by the

. DESTO conducts

on weapon systems, military technologies, and renders technical advice on weapons–related technological issues to the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

. DESTO retains its expertise on variety of disciplines such as

aerodynamics Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...

propulsion Propulsion is the generation of force by any combination of pushing or pulling to modify the translational motion of an object, which is typically a rigid body (or an articulated rigid body) but may also concern a fluid. The term is derived from ...

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

computer system A computer is a machine that can be programmed to automatically carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as ''programs'', wh ...

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...

, chemical and biological defence. Since 2001, DESTO's

infrastructure base is now available to public sector industry under commercial arrangements. Projects and research work at DESTO remains under strict secrecy and very few details of the projects are known to the public.

Involvement in strategic deterrence

By the early 1970s, DESTO maintained its classified projects towards the

s and successfully reverse engineered its own version of the wind tunnel in 1974 roughly based on Dutch firm, the Stork-Werkspoor. Following the surprise nuclear test, ''

Smiling Buddha Smiling Buddha (Ministry of External Affairs (India), MEA designation: Pokhran-I) was the code name of India's first successful Nuclear weapons testing, nuclear weapon test on 18 May 1974. The nuclear fission bomb was detonated in the Pokhran#P ...

'', by

in 1974, PAEC chair

Munir Ahmad Khan Munir Ahmad Khan (; 20 May 1926 – 22 April 1999), , was a Pakistani nuclear engineer who is credited, among others, with being the "father of the atomic bomb program" of Pakistan for their leading role in developing their nation's nuclear we ...

and

Abdus Salam Mohammad Abdus Salam Salam adopted the forename "Mohammad" in 1974 in response to the anti-Ahmadiyya decrees in Pakistan, similarly he grew his beard. (; ; 29 January 192621 November 1996) was a Pakistani theoretical physicist. He shared the 1 ...

chaired a meeting with the officials of DESTO over the technological surprise of India. Zaman Sheikh—a

chemical engineer A chemical engineer is a professional equipped with the knowledge of chemistry and other basic sciences who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of Product (chemistry), products and deals with ...

from DESTO—was tasked to developed

chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

explosive lens An explosive lens—as used, for example, in nuclear weapons—is a highly specialized shaped charge. In general, it is a device composed of several explosive charges. These charges are arranged and formed with the intent to control the sha ...

es, tampers, and triggering mechanized system, necessary in the

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

of the fission weapon together with Hafeez Qureshi—a

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

. The codename for this project was ''Wah Group Scientists'' (WGS), and the work was done in the Metallurgical Laboratory at the Wah Cantonment in 1978. Later, it was renamed as Directorate for Technical Development (DTD), and was charged with the design testings of the weapons. After Pakistan conducted

nuclear test Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance of nuclear weapons and the effects of their explosion. Nuclear testing is a sensitive political issue. Governments have often performed tests to signal strength. Bec ...

s—codename: ''

Chagai-I Chagai-I is the code name of five simultaneous underground nuclear tests conducted by Pakistan at 15:15 hrs Pakistan Standard Time, PKT on 28 May 1998. The tests were performed at Ras Koh Hills in the Chagai District of Balochistan Province. C ...

'' and '' Chagai-II''—in May 1998, the

United States Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

identified and sanctioned DESTO for involvement in Pakistan's nuclear and missile programmes. The exact details of the work and contribution to missile systems remains under strict secrecy.Presidential Determination No. 2001-28 22 September 2001: Waiver of Nuclear-Related Sanctions on India and Pakistan, Memorandum for the Secretary of State," 66 Federal Register 191 (2 October 2001), p. 50095; "India and Pakistan: Lifting of Sanctions, Removal of Indian and Pakistani Entities, and Revision in License Review Policy," 66 Federal Register 190 (1 October 2001), p. 50090, and Dianne E. Rennack, India and Pakistan: U.S. Economic Sanctions, CRS Report to Congress RS20995 (Washington, DC: The Library of Congress, 3 February 2003). However, after Pakistan's heavy contribution on the war on terror, the American government uplifted the sanctions on DESTO.

References

Defence industry of Pakistan Manufacturing plants in Pakistan Science and technology in Pakistan Nuclear weapons programme of Pakistan Research and development organizations Corporate spin-offs Military research of Pakistan Government agencies established in 1963 1963 establishments in Pakistan Pakistan federal departments and agencies {{DEFAULTSORT:Defence Science and Technology Organisation

History

Involvement in strategic deterrence

See also

References