| Kirana Hills | |
|---|---|
Kirana PAF | |
| Part ofPAF Base Mushaf | |
| Sargodha District inPunjab, Pakistan NearSargodha, Punjab in Pakistan | |
 The summit of Kirana Hills. | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Radar and Weapons Complex |
| Owner | Ministry of Defense |
| Operator | National Defence Complex (Main contractor) |
| Controlled by |  Pakistan Air Force[1] |
| Open to the public | Yes |
| Status | Active |
| Defining authority | Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) |
| Location | |
  Kirana Hills | |
| Coordinates | 31°57′59″N72°42′09″E / 31.9663°N 72.7026°E /31.9663; 72.7026 |
| Area | 100 sq mi (260 km2)[2] |
| Height | 1,050 ft (320 m)[3] |
| Length | 12 mi (19 km)[2] |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1979 (1979) |
| Built by | Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers |
| In use | 1981–95 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | No. 4091 Squadron |
| Test information | |
| Subcritical tests | 24 underKirana-I |
| Remediation | 1995 |
TheKirana Hills Site[4] is an extensive rockymountain range and a reservation of theMinistry of Defense (MoD) and nuclear arsenal storage location of Pakistan army, located in theSargodha District inPunjab,Pakistan.[4][5][6][7]
Known locally as "Black Mountains"[8] due to itsbrownish landscape, it is expanded between the township ofRabwah and the metropolitan city ofSargodha.[9]
The highest peak of the Kirana Hills is measured at 1,050 ft (320 m)[3] with average peaks at highest peak is about 600 feet (180 m).[10]
The Kirana Hills is a series of bedrock hills that were named after a small village that once resided before the villagers moved to the township ofRabwah (now Chanab Nagar) and the planned city ofSargodha.[11]
TheKirana Hills is an extensive rocky mountain range located in theSargodha District, and about 80 mi (130 km) in distance from theSalt Range.[12][13] In 1913,British geologists conducted extensive investigations on the rock formations in the Kirana Hills, which are different from the rest of its parent mountains ranges; the rocks are noticeablyblack in formation.[13]
The highest peak at the Kirana Hills is measured exactly at 1,050 ft (320 m) by the British surveyors from the level of the plain in 1913.[3] The average height in the Kirana Hills are recorded at 600 ft (180 m) by theGeological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) in their studies of hydrology reports in 1967.[14] The Kirana Hills are expanded and scattered over an area of about 100 sq mi (260 km2) and about 12 mi (19 km) in length.[2]
According to the Pakistani scientific investigations, the rocks are mainly hardened shales and slates with minor amount ofquartzites which contained with layers ofhematite, thin bands ofrhyolites,tuff anddiabase.[15][16]
In 1970s, the Geological Survey of Pakistan conducted a survey to find uranium ores and began themining of uranium after its geologists confirmed the deposits of uranium ores at the Kirana Hills.[17]
The landform of the Kirana Hills is known to be asteppe with heavygrassland besides the Rocky Mountains.[18] ThePakistan Meteorological Department reported its weather conditions to beextreme with the highest have been recorded to 50 °C (122 °F) in the summer while the minimum temperature recorded is as low asfreezing point 0 °C (32 °F) in the winter.[19][20]
Its environs are heavily infested withwild boars.[21]
In 1970, theMinistry of Defense (MoD) acquired the Kirana Hills as a defense site for thePakistan Air Force.[1] The Pakistan Air Force established a radar station with the commissioning of the No. 4091 Squadron at the Kirana Hills, which is still in commission at the Kirana Hills.[22] The Kirana Hills forms a larger part of theMushaf Air Force Base in Sargodha, which falls into its area of command.[23]
In 1978–79, thePakistan Army Corps of Engineers acquired the range for the possible test sites and began itsboring operations for the tunnels measuring 100 to 150 feet (30 to 46 m) in length, as a potential for nuclear test sites.[23][24][25][26]
According to Pakistani admissions, there have been forty-six short tunnels that were bored, with Special Development Works (SDW) constructing the two horizontal and three vertical underground line of sight sites to withheld 24–40 kilotonnes of TNT (100–170 TJ) of energy blast from the nuclear weapons.[18] At one of its tunnels the ChineseM-11 missiles were once housed before the United States Intelligence found out, and moved the missiles for further testings at an unknown locations by the Air Force.[18]
TheKirana-I was the codename for the 24subcritical physical experiments on nuclear weapon designs that took place under the leadership of the Pakistan Air Force with the Pakistan's national defense laboratories between 1983–95.[27][28][29]
The first subcritical experiment on physics package was carried out on 11 March 1983 but the subcritical experiments are not true full-scale nuclear weapon testing.[30]
The Pakistan Institution of Nuclear Science & Technology (Pinstech), Metallurgical Laboratories (ML), and the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) conducted various investigations and studies on dynamical properties of materials, radiation effects, and secondary weapon assessments for the nuclear explosive devices at the Kirana base to validate the viability of the nuclear weapons before conducting nuclear testing.[31][32]
The subcritical physics experiments proved crucial in understanding and preparing the physical package to evolved into a weapon pits to be delivered by the Pakistan Air Force's combat aircraft stationed at the Sargodha Air Force Base.[33][24]
Boring and tunnel operations were carried out at night to avoid the American detection from itssatellites fixated on the region.[24] The army engineers also worked on relocating the wildlife, specifically thewild boars, to stay out of the weapon-testing tunnels before the diagnosticians housed the tunnels.[24] The tunnels at the Kirana Hills are composed of multiplecables,line-of-sight screen boxes, oscillators, computers, and other diagnostics equipments were installed by the national laboratories' diagnostics teams.[34]
First diagnostics test on a working nuclear weapon device was reportedly designed in vintage style, which had thepush-button to create an electronic circuit.[34] The push-button mechanism, however, was replaced with laser activation system after the error was discovered during the trigger testing.[35][36] TheHMX andPBX explosives were prepared for number of subcritical experiments by the weapon-testing laboratories.[37] This first subcritical physics experiment was carried out on 11 March 1983.[38]
In 1995, the Pakistan Air Force took over the host responsibilities for the nation's military nuclear weapons program. With the Clinton administration continuously monitoring the region, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) moved the subcritical experiments to unknown location inKala Chitta Range, which is inKhyber-Pakhtunkhwa.[24] The Pakistani government released a tender for theremediation works at the Kirana Hills opened the parts of the site for public tourism in 1995.[24]
The Pakistan Air Force Radar Station for monitoring the airspace of Pakistan is still active with its unit Sq-No. 4091.[39]
In spite of its clean-up, the Kirana Base is still in commissioned as a principle nuclear installation site for the Pakistan Air Force, according to the Indian intelligence analysts.[4]
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