EDEX 2018: Pakistan NESCOM displays its Burraq UCAV drone.

The NESCOM Burraq unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) was developed and is built by the National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM), a civil scientific research and development organization of Pakistan, along with the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). Before the Burraq was publicly unveiled for the first time, the Pakistani military reportedly conducted several strikes using this UCAV, as part of the Khyber-1 military operations in the Tirah Valley.

Pakistani NESCOM Burraq UCAV (Picture source: Army Recognition)

Primarily used by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), it has also been used by the Pakistan Army (PA) in its counter-insurgency operations in north-west Pakistan. The Burraq carries various imagery and motion sensors. It is equipped with a laser guided air-to-surface missile named "Barq". Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the public relations department of the Pakistan Armed Forces, described the system as a "force multiplier." After a successful demonstration of its ability to fire missiles at both stationary and moving targets, Pakistan became the fifth country in the World to successfully develop an unmanned combat aerial vehicle.

On 7 September 2015, the Burraq was used for the first time in a live military operation when it was used to fire on a terrorist compound in the Shawal valley in the Pakistani tribal areas, eliminating three high-profile targets, according to the Director General of the ISPR, Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa. Pakistan became the fourth military after Israel, the US and the UK to use an armed drone in active combat.