Cold Start is an initiative designed and will be largely taken by the Army. The Army will be the centre of the attack, i have a hard time believing that the Army will let the Navy have all the glory.
I think so too.
As soon as the IBG's will start crossing the border, they will be met up by PA infantry that is well dug in. There are thousands of mobile posts that are set through out the border to keep an eye on any movement from the Indian side. Indian Armour Formations are heavily monitored by Pakistan by several different assets and vice versa Pakistani Armour Formations are also heavily monitored by India. The F16's are equipped with DB110 reccon pods which are the most advanced in the world that can look deep inside India to get real time updates. It will be next to impossible for India to hide their axis of movement on a mobilization of this scale. As soon as the Indian IBG's start crossing the border and start taking punishment from PA defenders, PA will know exactly where the IBG's are and how much punch they are packing.
The idea is to rapidly infiltrate multiple locations simultaneously. The PA will probably know where to find the IBG's, the question here is one of priorities and capabilities. The IBG's are supposed to be mobile. Moreover, the IA has recently spent billions procuring mobile air defense systems like the Israeli Spyder and the Akash, not to mention all the tank upgrades/purchases. The IA's job is to simply concentrate firepower in localized regions and establish a foothold behind enemy lines. The IAF and SAM systems will be used to maintain the same.
The PA will almost certainly know that an attack is imminent. What they wouldn't know however, is where, which is the IA's primary advantage. Then it's simply a question of numbers and resources, which is why I said its basically boils down to priority targets and the cost. Last but not least, the IBG's will be a prime target in case things get out of hand, ie nuclear. Pakistan will use tactical nukes (diplomatic suicide) on the IBG's before it nukes civilian targets. India will probably lob a few nukes of its own in response.
I should mention before I go on that nobody expects India to emerge unscathed. Pakistan commands a formidable military so the IA has factored in its losses. India doesn't want to take over Pakistan, it wants to draw the PA out and have a brawl. If nothing else, India has numbers and diplomatic clout. They can sustain and recover from a conflict much faster than Pakistan. With economic woes and faltering allies, Pakistan will be left with no one to turn to but China. Chances are the PA will never have access to the kind of funds and equipment it has now. At least not enough to match India in another war. The hope is maul the PA enough to compel the GOP into complying and ceding some ground on outstanding issues.
It does not make any sense, it is highly unlikely if the Indian Army will sit out and let the Navy have all the glory. But for argument sakes, lets say that the IN decides to be the punch force and decides to duel it out with PN. IN without a doubt has a very impressive edge but not that impressive where it can simply overwhelm PN. **** But if PN is fighting the war from the its coastal waters, its hard to see how the IN will dominate the battle in Pak's coastal waters.
The IN wouldn't come anywhere near the Pakistani coast. They can simply impose a blockade hundreds of miles out at sea.
Another very important factor is the PAF, if they are not helping the Army in CAS missions than they will be free to help the PN, more headache for the IN.
Once again, India's going to take a few hits, but the PAF has to worry about a much larger IAF.
Most importantly, i find it hard to believe how India will justify the blockade to the international community of Pakistan's waters. If there is one thing the US Navy has always stood for, it is the idea of open seas and i find it hard to believe that India can change the mindset of the US for a principle they have held so dear for so long.
India will use a catastrophic terrorist attack as justification. Even if all else fails, the one thing India can do is muster intl' support. India and America agree on Islamic terrorists so I don't think the GOI will have any trouble on that front.
NASR is a tactical nuke, its small and wont take more than an hour to assemble. Strategic nukes are a different ball game, they are big and take more time to assemble. But i dont even know why we are talking about nukes here, the last thing PA Generals want is a nuclear war because they know that it will fry up the entire South Asia.
- Nasr is a short range tactical missile. It can be mated with both conventional and unconventional warheads.
- You have to factor in the decision making process. As far as I know, India and Pakistan are way behind on the nuclear curve (just like everything else). India has only recently setup a nuclear command. In any case, the warheads and missiles are kept in separate facilities. Mating the two will require a lot of time and an incredible amount of security. In short, both sides will see it coming. The rest of the nuclear powers house their missiles in fortified bunkers or boomers. The decision making process (assets, targets etc) has been streamlined over 50 years of nuclear roulette.
That means India will fire every nuclear weapon in her arsenal, if Pakistan does decides to use the nuke card on a strategic level, you can be sure that every nuclear warhead in Pakistan's arsenal will be fired.
Nah, neither side is that stupid. We'll kill a few hundred thousand soldiers at worst.
If nukes are fired, there wont be a South Asia anymore. I sincerely pray to God that i never have to see that day.
You know, the planet will hardly even notice unless it affects the ozone. A slowdown in India or Pakistan will have close to no affect on the global economy.
In 2002 PA mobilized its divisions from as far away as Balochistan and KP in less than 2 weeks, they were at our Eastern borders. That was in 2002, PA has cut down their mobilization time by days. Mobility is one thing that PA can pride itself upon, this is why i always say that there is no way the IA can beat PA to the border in terms of time.
That's mostly because of Pakistan's small size.