Manufacturer catalog

Kahuta Research Laboratories

Kahuta Research Laboratories, more widely cited in missile and nuclear references as Khan Research Laboratories or KRL, is a Pakistani state defense and research organization associated with uranium-enrichment work, missile development, and specialized defense production. Public nonproliferation sources describe KRL as an active missile-production facility in the Rawalpindi/Kahuta area and tie it to Pakistan's liquid-fueled Ghauri/Hatf-5 missile program.

2 weapons

KRL began as Engineering Research Laboratories in 1976 and was later renamed for Abdul Qadeer Khan. Open sources describe the Kahuta complex as central to Pakistan's early uranium-enrichment infrastructure and as an important participant in the country's missile-development ecosystem. Because the organization is state-run, security-sensitive, and sparsely documented in official public material, the most useful public context comes from nonproliferation references, sanctions and supplier databases, and reporting on individual missile and rocket-artillery systems.

For the weapon catalog, KRL is most directly connected to the KRL-122 Ghazab multiple rocket launcher and to the Ghauri/Hatf-5 medium-range ballistic missile. The Ghauri material shows KRL's role in Pakistan's liquid-fueled strategic missile work, while the KRL-122 record captures a conventional rocket-artillery system publicly attributed to the laboratory in defense reporting.

Ballistic missile developmentRocket artilleryDefense electronics and industrial systemsUranium enrichment and nuclear research infrastructure

Notable Systems

KRL-122 Ghazab, 122 mm multiple rocket launcher, Artillery

KRL-122 Ghazab

122 mm multiple rocket launcher

A Pakistani 122 mm multiple rocket launcher publicly described in defense reporting as a KRL system and represented in the catalog as KRL-122 Ghazab.

Sources: Azerbaijan deploys Pakistani-made KRL-122 MLRS against Armenian positions
Ghauri / Hatf-5, Road-mobile medium-range ballistic missile, Munitions

Ghauri / Hatf-5

Road-mobile medium-range ballistic missile

A Pakistani road-mobile, liquid-fueled medium-range ballistic missile; NTI identifies KRL as a continuing contributor to Ghauri missile development.

Sources: Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), Ghauri (Hatf 5)

Manufacturer History

  1. Engineering Research Laboratories established

    FAS reports that Abdul Qadeer Khan founded Engineering Research Laboratories on July 31, 1976, for indigenous uranium-enrichment plant development at Kahuta.

    Sources: Kahuta - Pakistan Special Weapons Facilities

  2. Renamed as Khan Research Laboratories

    FAS says Engineering Research Laboratories was renamed Dr. A.Q. Khan Research Laboratories on May 1, 1981.

    Sources: Kahuta - Pakistan Special Weapons Facilities

  3. Ghauri/Hatf-5 flight-test era begins

    NTI describes KRL's missile effort as focused on liquid-fueled medium-range missiles and states that KRL held a Ghauri-1/Hatf-5 test flight on April 6, 1998.

    Sources: Khan Research Laboratories (KRL)

  4. Ghauri-1 enters service

    NTI reports that the Ghauri-1 missile entered Pakistan Army service in January 2003.

    Sources: Khan Research Laboratories (KRL)

Predecessors
Engineering Research Laboratories
Website links
NTI facility profileFAS Kahuta facility profileIran Watch supplier profileKICSIT board listing

KRL's current public web presence is limited and older official domains are not dependable as primary references. This profile relies on nonproliferation databases, defense reporting, and public institutional listings rather than unsourced claims about classified production or command relationships.

Manufacturer Sources

  • Khan Research Laboratories (KRL)Publisher: Nuclear Threat Initiative | Note: Supports KRL location, active missile-production status, missile-development context, and Ghauri program role. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • Kahuta - Pakistan Special Weapons FacilitiesPublisher: Federation of American Scientists | Note: Supports the Kahuta facility context, ERL founding date, 1981 KRL renaming, and missile-development role. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • Institute of Industrial Control Systems (IICS)Publisher: Iran Watch / Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control | Note: Supports aliases, Pakistan country context, address information, and public characterization as a research and industrial defense complex. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • Ghauri (Hatf 5)Publisher: CSIS Missile Threat | Note: Supports Ghauri/Hatf-5 type, range class, payload, basing, operational status, and service-date context. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • Azerbaijan deploys Pakistani-made KRL-122 MLRS against Armenian positionsPublisher: Army Recognition | Note: Supports the KRL-122 Ghazab notable-system connection and general launcher background without adding manufacturer-page conflict-use claims. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • Ghauri missile mockupPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports reusable image provenance and licensing for the Ghauri mockup image. | Accessed: 2026-07-11

Produced weapons

Category

Artillery

Tube artillery, rocket artillery, and long-range ground fires.

1/1

Category

Munitions

Standalone missiles, bombs, rockets, torpedoes, and guided or unguided explosive payloads.

1/1
Ghauri / Hatf-5, Road-mobile medium-range ballistic missile, MunitionsGhauri / Hatf-5Road-mobile medium-range ballistic missileBuilt in: PakistanGhauri, also designated Hatf-5, is a Pakistani road-mobile, single-stage, liquid-fueled medium-range ballistic missile associated with Kahuta Research Laboratories' strategic missile work and with North Korean Nodong design lineage in Western open-source assessments. CSIS Missile Threat lists the baseline system as operational with 1,250 to 1,500 km range, while Pakistani training-launch reporting commonly cites a 1,300 km conventional or nuclear-capable missile.