The Defence Science & Technology Organisation ( ur, ) is a multi-disciplinary agency under the

Ministry of Defence Production The Ministry of Defence Production ( ur, ), is a Cabinet-level ministry of Pakistan government concerned with the development and production of the full range of equipment and stores for the Pakistan Armed Forces ranging from platforms such as m ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, dedicated for evaluation of science and technology for use by the

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 distin ...

. Its Director-General is a serving two-star general officer of the Pakistan Army, and is located at Chaklala cantonment. However, as an inter-services organisation it is overseen by the Joint Services Headquarters, and works closely with the Strategic Plans Division (SPD). Created in 1963 in the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

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

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 ...

. 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 centre 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 Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...

and the applications of the

fluid dynamics In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids—liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including '' aerodynamics'' (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

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 e ...

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 accompli ...

of the foreign technology for the use of by the

. DESTO conducts

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

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. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

. DESTO retains its expertise on variety of disciplines such as

aerodynamics Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dyn ...

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 The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

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

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 ...

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 expl ...

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 sci ...

, chemical and biological defence. Since 2001, DESTO's multi-disciplinary 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 nuclear weapons

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'', by

in 1974, PAEC chair Munir Ahmad Khan and Abdus Salam chaired a meeting with the officials of DESTO over the technological surprise of India. Zaman Sheikh—a

chemical engineer In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is a professional, equipped with the knowledge of chemical engineering, who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products and deals with the ...

from DESTO—was tasked to developed

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...

explosive lenses, tampers, and triggering mechanized system, necessary in the

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scie ...

of the fission weapon together with

Hafeez Qureshi Muhammad Hafeez Qureshi (Urdu: محمد حفيظ قريشى; ) (28 January 1930 – 11 August 2007), Sitara-e-Imtiaz, SI, Hilal-i-Imtiaz, HI, known as Hafeez Qureshi, was a Pakistani nuclear scientist and a mechanical engineer, known for his cla ...

—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 nuclear weapons' effectiveness, Nuclear weapon yield, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detona ...

s—codename: '' Chagai-I'' and '' Chagai-II''—in May 1998, the

United States Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

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

war on terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant ...

, the American government uplifted the sanctions on DESTO.

Extended programme

In 2000, it was reported that DESTO had achieved a major breakthrough in ammunition technology by developing ammunition for 120 mm mortar. DESTO's programme had ingeniously developed and manufactured

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weapo ...

for 120 mm mortar which has almost doubled the range of conventional ammunition with very less cost effect. Further tests were carried out by DESTO to check the technology and it enhanced the range of all artillery ammunition up to 30%.

References

{{authority control Defence companies of Pakistan Manufacturing plants in Pakistan Science and technology in Pakistan Military equipment of Pakistan Nuclear weapons programme of Pakistan Research and development organizations Military research installations of Pakistan Corporate spin-offs Defence agencies of Pakistan Government agencies established in 1963 1963 establishments in Pakistan Pakistan federal departments and agencies

History

Involvement in nuclear weapons

Extended programme

See also

References