A U.S. intelligence report has identified Pakistan’s missile programme as a potential threat to American security, placing the country alongside what it described as Washington’s principal adversaries, including Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.
The assessment was made in the Annual Threat Assessment 2026, released on Wednesday by U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, which outlines global risks to the United States.
The report said the five countries were “researching and developing an array of novel, advanced or traditional missile delivery systems with nuclear and conventional payloads that put our homeland within range.”
On Pakistan specifically, Gabbard told lawmakers that “Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile development potentially could include ICBMs capable of striking the homeland.”
The written assessment went further, placing Pakistan across multiple threat categories.
On missiles, it said Pakistan “continues to develop increasingly sophisticated missile technology that provides its military the means to develop missile systems capable of striking targets beyond South Asia and, if these trends continue, intercontinental ballistic missiles that would threaten the United States.”
On weapons of mass destruction, it assessed that Pakistan, alongside China, North Korea and Russia, would “probably continue to research, develop, and field delivery systems that will increase their ranges and accuracy, challenge U.S. missile defences, and provide new WMD-use options.”
The report also flagged South Asia as a region of “enduring security challenges,” warning that India-Pakistan relations “remain a risk for nuclear conflict.”
The report also said Pakistan, along with Egypt, Israel, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, was among countries “using lethal aid, proxy forces, or a combination of military assets” to influence or destabilise regional conflicts.
Pakistan has not issued a formal response to Wednesday’s assessment.