The H-4 SOW (Stand-Off Weapon) is a precision-guided

glide bomb A glide bomb or stand-off bomb is a standoff weapon with flight control surfaces to give it a flatter, gliding flight path than that of a conventional bomb without such surfaces. This allows it to be released at a distance from the target rat ...

manufactured by

NESCOM The National Engineering & Scientific Commission (NESCOM) () is a Pakistani government-funded defence contractor that develops, designs and sells defense hardware, including missile and weapon systems. It was funded and formed by the Government of ...

and deployed by the

Pakistan Air Force The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...

, capable of striking targets at stand-off range. It has a terminal guidance system based on an

infrared homing Infrared homing is a Missile guidance#Passive homing, passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "he ...

seeker, which identifies the target during the final stage of flight. Designed to hit targets out to 120 km, the bomb may have the capability to evade radar.

Design & Development

According to Pakistani press reports, the H-4 glide bomb was created by Pakistan's National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM), working in collaboration with the Pakistan Missile Organisation and

Air Weapons Complex The Air Weapons Complex (AWC), operated under the National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM), is a Pakistani research and development entity. Established in 1992 by the Pakistan Air Force, it specialises in advancing airborne applic ...

in Pakistan. A lighter version of the H-4 has also been produced, the

H-2 SOW The H-2 SOW (Stand-Off Weapon) is a precision-guided glide bomb manufactured by NESCOM and deployed by the Pakistan Air Force, capable of striking targets at stand-off range. It has a terminal guidance system based on an infra-red imaging see ...

, which has a stated range of 60 km. Three successful tests were conducted, the last one in 2003, which led to field deployment on the

Dassault Mirage III The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizont ...

and

Mirage V The Dassault Mirage 5 is a French supersonic attack aircraft/fighter-bomber designed by Dassault Aviation during the 1960s and manufactured in France and other countries. It was derived from Dassault's popular Mirage III fighter and spawned sev ...

strike fighter In current military parlance, a strike fighter is a multirole combat aircraft designed to operate both as an attack aircraft and as an air superiority fighter. As a category, it is distinct from fighter-bombers, and is closely related to the co ...

s of the

. It has also been stated that the H-4 will be integrated with the PAF's new multi-role combat aircraft, the

JF-17 The CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder (), or FC-1 ''Xiaolong'' (), is a fourth-generation, lightweight, single-engine, multirole combat aircraft developed jointly by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) of China. ...

, which is replacing the elderly fleet of

Mirage III The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizonta ...

and

Dassault Mirage 5 The Dassault Mirage 5 is a French supersonic attack aircraft/fighter-bomber designed by Dassault Aviation during the 1960s and manufactured in France and other countries. It was derived from Dassault's popular Mirage III fighter and spawned sev ...

aircraft. All Pakistani JF-17 fighters, from the initial JF-17 Block 1 model to the final Block 3 version, will be capable of launching the H-4. The H-4's stated range of 120 km and its glide bomb design has led to speculation that it may be a Pakistani variant of the Denel Raptor II glide bomb, which is also guided by an infrared homing seeker and has a range of 120 km and is a longer range version of Raptor also known as H2.

Operational history

On 27 February 2019, 2

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

Dassault Mirage-VPAs armed with H-4 SOW bombs and 2 Dassault Mirage-IIIDAs for guidance via

data link A data link is a means of telecommunications link, connecting one location to another for the purpose of transmitting and receiving digital information (data communication). It can also refer to a set of electronics assemblies, consisting of a t ...

carried out

airstrikes An airstrike, air strike, or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighter aircraft, attack aircraft, bombers, attack helicopters, and drones. The official d ...

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

targeting

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

brigade headquarters and forward support depots. The

claimed that the planes were able to lock onto the targets, however at the last moment,

Weapon systems officer A Weapon Systems Officer (WSO), nicknamed "Wizzo", is an air flight officer directly involved in all air operations and weapon systems of a military aircraft. Historically, aircrew duties in military aircraft were highly specialised and rigi ...

s took their cursor off them. This was shown by what were allegedly in-cockpit videos released by the PAF's operations directorate for the 6 September telecast which showed that the

Air force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

did not target the Indian army sites. Later in April 2019,

Indian media Mass media in India consists of several different means of communication: television, radio, internet, cinema, newspapers and magazines. Indian media was active since the late 18th century; the print media started in India as early as 1780. R ...

reported that a local police

Bomb disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated fun ...

unit carried out a bomb defusal operation in Mendhar and

Rajouri Rajouri or Rajauri (; ; ) is a city in the Rajouri district in the Jammu division of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. It is located about from Srinagar and from Jammu (city), Jammu city on ...

, where they had successfully defused 3-4 unexploded H-4 SOW bombs.

Operators

*: Pakistan Air force

References

External links

Dawn – a Pakistani newspaper article on H-4

The Times of India – an Indian newspaper article on H-4

Aeronaut
{{Pakistan Missiles Post–Cold War weapons of Pakistan Aerial bombs of Pakistan Guided bombs Military equipment introduced in the 2000s

Design & Development

Operational history

Operators

See also

References

External links