India and weapons of mass destruction
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| See also |
| Dirty bomb |
| Radiological warfare edit (https://academickids.com:443/encyclopedia/index.php?title=Template:WMD&action=edit) |
| Contents |
The Beginning
As early as June 26 1946, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India's soon to be Prime Minister announced "As long as the world is constituted as it is, every country will have to devise and use the latest devices for its protection. I have no doubt India will develop her scientific researches and I hope Indian scientists will use the atomic force for constructive purposes. But if India is threatened, she will inevitably try to defend herself by all means at her disposal."
The Smiling Buddha
Main article: Operation Smiling Buddha
Three decades later, India, under the leadership of Pandit Nehru's daughter Indira, conducted nuclear tests called Operation Smiling Buddha and was said to be a "peaceful nuclear test". Reports on the actual yield of these tests vary from official accounts of 12 kt, to Western intelligence reports that place the yield to be between 4-6 kt. The devices tested were essentially nuclear fission devices.
India began work on a thermonuclear weapon in 1980. According to reports, by 1989 India was making efforts to isolate and purify the lithium-6 isotope, a key requirement for the production of a thermonuclear device.
Shakti
Main article: Operation Shakti
A second series of tests, called Operation Shakti was carried out in Pokhran under a newly appointed BJP government on May 11 and 13, 1998. After the blasts, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee announced that this was "India's due, the right of one-sixth of humankind". The devices tested were two fission devices, three low-yield devices and one thermonuclear device (the "H-bomb"). Again, reports of the actual yield vs. reported yield vary, with the yield of fission devices ranging from 4-15 kt and the thermonuclear device ranging from 12-60 kt. For the sake of comparison, the bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki was 20 kt.
Nuclear Policy
Very little is known about India's nuclear weapons program. India maintains a "no-first-use" nuclear policy in the event of war and is said to possess between 60-120 nuclear weapons, although not many are expected to be in a pre-assembled, ready for use state, largely due to the diminishing threat from India's nuclear neighbors, China and Pakistan.
India's Strategic Nuclear Command was launched in 2003, with Air Marshall Asthana as the Commander-in-Chief of the regime. The SNC is the custodian of all of India's nuclear weapons and missiles. It is also responsible for formulating India's nuclear policy. However the political council (the civil leadership of the country) is the only body allowed to authorize a nuclear attack: it is the Prime Minister who has his finger "on the button".
Delivery Systems
In general, nuclear weapons can be "delivered" to their targets by missiles or by fighter aircraft such as bombers.
Missiles
Agni-II_missile_(Republic_Day_Parade_2004).jpeg
India's DRDO has dedicated considerable resources to the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. Currently this program has produced two classes of missile designs that are capable of delivering a nuclear weapon that include the Prithvi which includes the Prithvi I, II, and III versions as well as the Agni which includes the Agni I an MRBM and Agni II an IRBM.
The status of India's Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), Agni IV or Surya ("Sun") whose expected range is between 5,000-12,000 km, is unclear. While Western reports hint at its existence, India has officially denied the existence of such a weapon or a project to design it.
Aircraft
India also has fighter aircraft that could potentially deliver nuclear weapons to their targets. Analysts expect India to rely more on air power than its missiles for delivering nuclear weapons, since India's missiles are not thought to be very accurate. India is expected to rely heavily on Soviet aircraft such as MiG-29, MiG-27 and Sukhoi Su-30MKI and Anglo-French Jaguars. India also recently leased 4 Tu-22M "Backfire" from Russia, long range bombers that are capable of delivering nuclear payload.
India and Nuclear Treaties
India acceded to the Geneva Protocol in 1930, the Biological Weapons Convention on July 15, 1974 and the Chemical Weapons Convention on September 3, 1996. It is not yet a signatory to either the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), but did acceed to the Partial Test Ban Treaty in October 1963.