Shaheen-I

The Shaheen-I (Urdu: شاهين-ا‎; official codename: Hatf–IV Shaheen), is a land-based supersonic and short-to-intermediate range surface-to-surface guided ballistic missile jointly designed and developed by the joint venture of NESCOM and the National Defence Complex (NDC).

It is dedicated and named after a species of Falcon found in the mountains of Pakistan. The Shaheen I is also designated Hatf IV. Both the Shaheen I and Shaheen IA are Pakistan's equivalent to the United States Pershing 1 and Pershing 1a missiles.

The JS HQ officially adopted the codename of the missile as "Hatf–IV. It has been reported that it was Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who suggested the name "Shaheen" by taking a cue from philosopher Iqbal's poetic symbol Shaheen Falcon. After being test fired in 1999, JS HQ officially codenamed the missile as "Hatf–IV Shaheen. Though its variants are now known as Shaheen-I and Shaheen-IA.

Shaheen I is a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) with an optimal range of 750 km and propelled by a two-stage solid-fuel rocket motor. The Shaheen I can deliver either a conventional or a nuclear payload much faster than liquid fuelled missiles such as the Ghauri because it does not need to be fuelled before launch, reducing deployment time significantly.