Pakistan Nuclear & Missile Project/Program and Capability ahead of Indias (US Report)

[neehar]

Before writing this,did you bother to check that what rubbish you are writing is reality or not India's all SRBM's are liquid propelled.Agni-1's only first stage is solid propelled its 2nd stage is liquid propelled.And fix it in your mind that Except Ghauri series missiles all of Pakistan's SRBM's and IRBM's are solid propelled & Shaheen III with its 3500 km range covers entire of india.

"Blasted off from a rail mobile launcher, the surface-to-surface, single-stage missile, powered by solid propellants, roared into the sky trailing behind a column of orange and white thick smoke at about 1305 hours."

Agni-1 short range ballistic missile successfully test-fired - Times Of India

 

[DARKY]

The navy has only 2 Sukanya class patrol crafts as test beds for Dhanush, apparently it hasn't been deployed.

Nuclear war capability and deployment of Nuclear weapon is a closely guarded secret.. one has to follow the developments years after years to reach conclusion... I wish to provide you more accurate link but this is what I found... you can find this on other pages aswell.

Among the complement of on-board weapon systems, some/all of these warship have been retro-fitted to be able to launch a Naval-version of India's indigenously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi Ballistic Missile, the Dhanush. The missile presently forms India's interim sea-based second-strike Nuclear launch capability as part of India's Nuclear triad, till the time submarine-launched K-series of Missiles are ready for induction and the required platform is in operation.

Rajput-Class Destroyer of the Indian Navy at Exercise Malabar 2012 [Wallpaper] - AA Me, IN

It is the Rajput class destroyers of Indian Navy.

Similarly Pakistan has Babur-II in development. K-4 hasn't been tested yet, please provide evidence for it. Prahar is a conventional platform.

Show me one thing about Babur 2.. looks... design ?... parameters ?... what you have is some fanboy fantasies and speculations at best.

When I say underdevelopment I mean it has gone out of drawing board stage and had its critical components tested... the Launch of 1000km range nuclear capable supersonic cruise(3.2 mach) missile will take within 2 years.. the delay was only due to engine part(now that engine is being made in India).. It will carry 1000kg warhead.

K-4 has been tested atleast 3 times.. GOI doesn't inform GOP about such tests it is done secretly.

In a dramatic breakthrough in its nuclear offensive capability, India has successfully tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) with an eventual range of 3,500 km. Tested secretly off Visakhapatnam in January this year, the 10-m long and 1.3-m wide missile emerged from a pontoon submerged 50 m underwater and breached the surface. Painted black and white so that it can be distinguished in water, it has passed a critical parameter.

The secret 'K' missile family : The Big Story - India Today

Why is Prahaar some how a conventional platform whne it can carry much bigger and heavier nuclear warhead as compared with Nasr ?.. any reasons... or who tells you that it will be a conventional system... Army already have Prithvi and Smerch for that role whats the point in making Prahar... with guidance.

War doesn't provides any short-term notices for production of nuclear weapons.
India does not possess tactical nuclear weapons based on artillery, please provide evidence to support your argument.

There's a buildup to any large war.. be it tensions on border or small scale conflict... Nuclear option is the last resort for that there's always 3-4 month time atleast.

Those device was tested during 1998 test and they weight perfectly to me mounted on smerch or Pinaka or a Prahar(It can carry heavier versions too)

Every thing is not public.. If you are interested read more about Shakti 1998 detonations you'll get the clue.. testing a nuclear weapon and not using it doesn't make sense

True that, but only the Naval arm gives India the upper hand. Again, India has advanced in development of systems, but not in deployment...yet.

Are you sure... Su30MKI can reach all parts of Pakistan and accompany M2K thanks to buddy refueling.. which combat plane in Pakistan can reach all parts of India ?.. Then comes load carrying ability.. making it through in hostile environment.

Now coming to Ballistic Missiles... India has been deploying its BMD shield and would spread it through the country besides further developing them into more reliable and efficient system... which would take care of a good fraction of the obsolete part of Pakistani arsenal which is bigger and affect the newer arsenal too with some effect.

Forcing it to rely heavily on Subsonic Babur to deliver which could be more vulnerable depending on the surveillance capabilities of Indian Armed forces which is slated to only increase that to exponentially for a good time to come... be it AWACS, Aero-stat radars, 4D MRMM AESA radars and Satellite based early warning and tracking system.

Unless Pakistan comes up with newer technologies in Hypersonic and Supersonic department along with SLBM.

 

[DARKY]

North’s missiles tied to Musharraf blunder | News | The Japan Times

D – A retired Pakistani nuclear scientist has claimed that former Pakistani leader Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s 1999 military adventurism in the Kargil region of divided Kashmir failed in part because the North Korea-aided, nuclear-capable Ghauri missiles he wanted to deploy then had a faulty guidance system.

The truth, he said, is that the ballistic missile failed to reach its predesignated impact point in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Baluchistan and its debris could not be found — something that would have undermined the missile’s deterrent effect if it were made public.

Musharraf then ordered another Ghauri test, which took place on April 14, 1999, just three days after India tested its Agni-2 intermediate-range ballistic missile and several weeks before India detected the extent of the Pakistani side’s penetration in Kargil.

But this test also failed, with the missile overflying its target and falling across the border in the Sistan region of southeastern Iran, the scientist said. It, too, was publicly declared a success, however.



Musharraf, he said, initially wanted to return the Nodong missiles to North Korea, from which it had imported 40 in knocked down condition in the mid-1990s. But then the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission undertook to replace the guidance with that of the country’s Chinese-aided Shaheen missile, he said.

Last Nov. 28, the improved version of Ghauri was test-fired and the government — true to form — declared it a success. Soon afterward, however, it was found to have exploded in midair and rained metal debris over parts of Sindh Province.

North’s missiles tied to Musharraf blunder | The Japan Times

 

[DARKY]

Now, the neutron bomb is strictly a tactical weapon. There is no problem about the capability of building a neutron bomb.

The capability of building a neutron bomb in our country?

That capability exists. At this moment we are talking about this credible deterrent that can be established based on the five tests done. If you are talking about a credible deterrent, then I think that whatever has been done is sufficient.

'Neutron bomb capability exists'

CHENNAI, September 9: After-H-bomb it could be the N-bomb. DRDO's Chief Technology Adviser and one of the principal architects of Pokhran'98, Santhanam, said that India is capable of fabricating a neutron bomb - an enhanced radiation weapon.

``Though there are no immediate plans to produce the neutron weapon in view of various binding factors, ``sometime, somebody should tell us (the scientific community) we need it (neutron weapon) and we will make it,'' he said.

Sorry

India can make neutron bomb, says Atomic Energy Commission chief
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mumbai, Aug 16: India has the capacity to build a neutron bomb, according to Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman Rajagopala Chidambaram.
Indian nuclear scientiss, after the Pokharan-2 tests, can design and make nuclear weapons of "any type or size," he said.

Neutron bomb, which is a battlefield weapon, is essentially a low-yield thermo-nuclear device, where the neutron-producing fusion process dominates over the fission trigger. It is not difficult to build such a device, according to Chidambaram.

India, which exploded a hydrogen bomb and four fission devices under the Thar desert in May last year and declared a moratorium on further tests, has not stopped its nuclear weapons research, according to top officials of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).

"The research is on. We have not stopped (it)," said BARC director Anil Kakodkar. The test devices were designed and built in BARC. Kakodkar, however, declined to elaborate

India is free to carry out sub-critical tests to keep on refining theweapon codes, but authorities were unwilling to comment if such studies are being done in BARC.

http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/fe/daily/19990817/fec17005.html

Now, the neutron bomb is strictly a tactical weapon. There is no problem about the capability of building a neutron bomb.

The capability of building a neutron bomb in our country?

That capability exists. At this moment we are talking about this credible deterrent that can be established based on the five tests done. If you are talking about a credible deterrent, then I think that whatever has been done is sufficient.

http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl1725/17250890.htm

CHENNAI, September 9: After-H-bomb it could be the N-bomb. DRDO's Chief Technology Adviser and one of the principal architects of Pokhran'98, Santhanam, said that India is capable of fabricating a neutron bomb - an enhanced radiation weapon.

``Though there are no immediate plans to produce the neutron weapon in view of various binding factors, ``sometime, somebody should tell us (the scientific community) we need it (neutron weapon) and we will make it,'' he said.

http://www.indianexpress.com/ie/daily/19980910/25350174.html

India can make neutron bomb, says Atomic Energy Commission chief
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mumbai, Aug 16: India has the capacity to build a neutron bomb, according to Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman Rajagopala Chidambaram.
Indian nuclear scientiss, after the Pokharan-2 tests, can design and make nuclear weapons of "any type or size," he said.

Neutron bomb, which is a battlefield weapon, is essentially a low-yield thermo-nuclear device, where the neutron-producing fusion process dominates over the fission trigger. It is not difficult to build such a device, according to Chidambaram.

India, which exploded a hydrogen bomb and four fission devices under the Thar desert in May last year and declared a moratorium on further tests, has not stopped its nuclear weapons research, according to top officials of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).

"The research is on. We have not stopped (it)," said BARC director Anil Kakodkar. The test devices were designed and built in BARC. Kakodkar, however, declined to elaborate

India is free to carry out sub-critical tests to keep on refining theweapon codes, but authorities were unwilling to comment if such studies are being done in BARC.

http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/fe/daily/19990817/fec17005.html

 

[kurup]

The Prithvi series is not presently nuclear capable, its role was replaced by Agni-I.
Agni-I had a range of 700km, for Agni-II post corrected.

Some reports quote that India is still maintaining a small inventory of Prithvis for nuclear delivery .

Agni 1 has a range of 700 km .So it is a SRBM . Sorry about the earlier mistake.

@AhaseebA : what is the payload capacity of Nasr .

 

[1ndy]

Good reply @Oscar & @Ahseeba bro.

 

[The Deterrent]

Show me one thing about Babur 2.. looks... design ?... parameters ?... what you have is some fanboy fantasies and speculations at best.

By Babur-II I meant a range-extended version of Babur, nothing more. Besides, did anybody show you the design and parameters of Babur, Ra'ad, Nasr, Shaheen-IA until they were flight-tested?
NESCOM is not DRDO.

When I say underdevelopment I mean it has gone out of drawing board stage and had its critical components tested... the Launch of 1000km range nuclear capable supersonic cruise(3.2 mach) missile will take within 2 years.. the delay was only due to engine part(now that engine is being made in India).. It will carry 1000kg warhead.

I am not negating the development part. India sure is doing high-tech research on these weapons systems.

K-4 has been tested atleast 3 times.. GOI doesn't inform GOP about such tests it is done secretly.

The secret 'K' missile family : The Big Story - India Today

And I thought both countries had an agreement to inform each other about BM tests. Seems like only Pakistan is following that, eh?

Why is Prahaar some how a conventional platform whne it can carry much bigger and heavier nuclear warhead as compared with Nasr ?.. any reasons... or who tells you that it will be a conventional system... Army already have Prithvi and Smerch for that role whats the point in making Prahar... with guidance.

It isn't about the payload capacity, it is about the capability to develop and deploy miniaturized nuclear weapons. Pakistan has officially confirmed it, but there is no proof for the same possessed by India.
Prithvi is an outdated system in today's modern warfare. Smerch although provides good enough range with accuracy, but Prahaar provides India with even greater range, higher payload and surgical precision.

There's a buildup to any large war.. be it tensions on border or small scale conflict... Nuclear option is the last resort for that there's always 3-4 month time atleast.

Operation Brasstacks-1987
In December 1986, with more than a thousand armored vehicles spread across its western desert, India launched the final stage of a huge military exercise that has stirred new tensions with Pakistan.
By mid-January 1987, the unified armed forces and Indian Army personnel stood within firing range along an extended border area.

2001-2002 Military Standoff
On the morning of 13 December 2001, a group of five armed men attacked the Indian Parliament. By January 2002, India had mobilized around 500,000 troops and three armored divisions on the Pakistani border concentrated along the Line of Control in Kashmir. Pakistan responded similarly, deploying around 300,000 troops to that region.

Seems like these situations escalated pretty quickly, eh?

Those device was tested during 1998 test and they weight perfectly to me mounted on smerch or Pinaka or a Prahar(It can carry heavier versions too)

Every thing is not public.. If you are interested read more about Shakti 1998 detonations you'll get the clue.. testing a nuclear weapon and not using it doesn't make sense

Can you provide the physical parameters of that nuclear device with some sources perhaps?
Maybe the test was a fissure, and to avoid embarrassment it was labeled "tactical", no?

Are you sure... Su30MKI can reach all parts of Pakistan and accompany M2K thanks to buddy refueling.. which combat plane in Pakistan can reach all parts of India ?.. Then comes load carrying ability.. making it through in hostile environment.

Su-30s don't even need the refueling, they can still reach all parts of Pakistan.
Yes, Pakistan lacks long-range aerial strike capability, but thats what the BMs and Standoff ALCMs are for.

Now coming to Ballistic Missiles... India has been deploying its BMD shield and would spread it through the country besides further developing them into more reliable and efficient system... which would take care of a good fraction of the obsolete part of Pakistani arsenal which is bigger and affect the newer arsenal too with some effect.

Correction: India is developing the BMD. The deployment date has been stated as 2014, but given DRDO's past performance, it could take much longer.

For now, Pakistan's ballistic missiles will remain an absolutely unavoidable threat.

Forcing it to rely heavily on Subsonic Babur to deliver which could be more vulnerable depending on the surveillance capabilities of Indian Armed forces which is slated to only increase that to exponentially for a good time to come... be it AWACS, Aero-stat radars, 4D MRMM AESA radars and Satellite based early warning and tracking system.

Unless Pakistan comes up with newer technologies in Hypersonic and Supersonic department along with SLBM.

As I said, both Babur and Ra'ad are adding diversity to Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Deal with them individually, and you can come up with countermeasures to every system Pakistan has. But in war, everything is shoved into the conflict around the same time frame.

North’s missiles tied to Musharraf blunder | News | The Japan Times

You didnt have to waste time on the highlighting stuff. We know that Ghauri is pretty much an outdated system with severe reliability issues.
I don't think I need to quote Agni-I's launch preparation failure, Agni-II's night trial failures or Prithvi-II's SFC trial failure.

 

[The Deterrent]

'Neutron bomb capability exists'

The capability may or may not exist, but has it been deployed?

Pakistan also has the capability of developing SLVs and ICBMs, but there is no solid progress because of lack of funds and need of the system respectively.

@AhaseebA : what is the payload capacity of Nasr .

There has been no official or reliable claim about the payload, but I speculate it to be of around 100 kg (minus the arming systems).

 

[DARKY]

By Babur-II I meant a range-extended version of Babur, nothing more. Besides, did anybody show you the design and parameters of Babur, Ra'ad, Nasr, Shaheen-IA until they were flight-tested?
NESCOM is not DRDO.

Whats the point developing a longer range babur... the deeper it goes more are its chances of being detected... India is not Iraq/Libya.

And I thought both countries had an agreement to inform each other about BM tests. Seems like only Pakistan is following that, eh?

Pakistan did not provide information about Nasr launch before hand too... K series missile tests are mostly done secretly and little is known about then in public too.

It isn't about the payload capacity, it is about the capability to develop and deploy miniaturized nuclear weapons. Pakistan has officially confirmed it, but there is no proof for the same possessed by India.
Prithvi is an outdated system in today's modern warfare. Smerch although provides good enough range with accuracy, but Prahaar provides India with even greater range, higher payload and surgical precision.

See there you go... Rest of the warheads tested after the 1st shakti test mostly sub-kiloton design... Now since they tested and validated there might be some reason behind that... Besides Indian warheads are mostly Plutonium based with Boosted fission.
Prithvi is very much like Iskander-M... they can modify and change its path pre-launch.. only problem is that it is liquid fueled.

Smerch Range is about 90-120km depending on configuration... Pinka-2 is supposed to be having a range of 60-120km depending on warhead configuration.. both will be incorporated with guidance and a single launcher would be more cheaper and destructive than a single Prahar missile with conventional warhead.

Seems like these situations escalated pretty quickly, eh?

Those were long time back today India has got 8-10 metric tons of fuel grade plutonium enriched enough to make bombs out of them.

Can you provide the physical parameters of that nuclear device with some sources perhaps?
Maybe the test was a fissure, and to avoid embarrassment it was labeled "tactical", no?

Shakti-3/4/5 were all sub-kiloton designs Shakti-3 is a boosted fission design which uses reactor grade plutonium... they all weight 100-150 Kg in warhead configuration.

Su-30s don't even need the refueling, they can still reach all parts of Pakistan.
Yes, Pakistan lacks long-range aerial strike capability, but thats what the BMs and Standoff ALCMs are for.

I was taking about Su30 fueling M2K to reach all parts too... helping a nuclear armed M2K as an escort and as a tanker.
Hence India has upper hand in air department and not only in Naval.

Correction: India is developing the BMD. The deployment date has been stated as 2014, but given DRDO's past performance, it could take much longer.

Its gets funny when you start saying things like DRDO's performance etc.. Its only time that the industrial weapon manufacturing infrastructure would improve and weapon manufacturing pace would pick up.. Its already happening and would increase exponentially in time to come.

For now, Pakistan's ballistic missiles will remain an absolutely unavoidable threat.

Sure It is... however I would count only the newer versions.. older ones can be taken care of by even S-300 batteries... If they manage to come within striking distance.

As I said, both Babur and Ra'ad are adding diversity to Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Deal with them individually, and you can come up with countermeasures to every system Pakistan has. But in war, everything is shoved into the conflict around the same time frame.

Every system has its counter dedicated to that very system only yes in a saturated launch a few baburs might make it but most of them would be shot down by SAMs and Fighter Aircrafts... only one person is not controlling war operations... and electronic system these days are automatic and and can control multiple engagement simultaneously thanks to advancement in Radar and Guidance.

You didnt have to waste time on the highlighting stuff. We know that Ghauri is pretty much an outdated system with severe reliability issues.
I don't think I need to quote Agni-I's launch preparation failure, Agni-II's night trial failures or Prithvi-II's SFC trial failure.

I didn't know Gauri failed every time and even its last test with shaheen guidance was a failure too.
Yes Agni missiles have failed but they have been successful too and the success rate is much higher than failure.

The capability may or may not exist, but has it been deployed?

Pakistan also has the capability of developing SLVs and ICBMs, but there is no solid progress because of lack of funds and need of the system respectively.

Those links are from 4 years ago.
And Huge amount of money has been spent in this regard.
Besides that system is very much needed by Armed forces... It suits their limited scale conflict doctrines such as cold-start etc.. very much.

 

[DARKY]

This one is the thermonuclear device scaled down with an estimated yield of 50-60KT.

You can have an estimate about its size and weight... the full version with 200KT yiled is supposed to be weighing 270Kg however actually weights 340Kg.

And old photo-shop giving an Idea on Nuclear devices and their weight in warhead configuration.

Keeping in mind the RE shield and other guidance and support component in crude form account at least double of what the weight of the nuclear device is the 17 Kt Boosted fission medium yield and the 0.5Kt fission tactical yield plutonium warhead weight just enough to be mounted on a Prahaar.

According to Pakistani members who put an estimated weight of Nasr payload to be 100kg must realize that for it to carry the nuclear device the device has to weight 20-50kg.. and keeping in mind that most of the tests done by Pakistan was based on HEU and lack of super computing infrastructure as compared with India.. they claim that Nasr will have a nuclear warhead is quiet dubious and bogus at best... misleading general public as has been done with various missile tests which were declared success while infact they failed, blew up or over shot that targets.

 

[Bratva]

This one is the thermonuclear device scaled down with an estimated yield of 50-60KT.

You can have an estimate about its size and weight... the full version with 200KT yiled is supposed to be weighing 270Kg however actually weights 340Kg.

And old photo-shop giving an Idea on Nuclear devices and their weight in warhead configuration.

Keeping in mind the RE shield and other guidance and support component in crude form account at least double of what the weight of the nuclear device is the 17 Kt Boosted fission medium yield and the 0.5Kt fission tactical yield plutonium warhead weight just enough to be mounted on a Prahaar.

According to Pakistani members who put an estimated weight of Nasr payload to be 100kg must realize that for it to carry the nuclear device the device has to weight 20-50kg.. and keeping in mind that most of the tests done by Pakistan was based on HEU and lack of super computing infrastructure as compared with India.. they claim that Nasr will have a nuclear warhead is quiet dubious and bogus at best... misleading general public as has been done with various missile tests which were declared success while infact they failed, blew up or over shot that targets.

Please point out where it is written Pakistan has lack of super computing infrastructure? While Pakistan is rapidly building Nuclear plants for producing plutonium and the sixth nuclear device which Pakistan exploded was plutonium so no problem in designing a plutonium warhead when need arises and the need arised when westarted building cruise missiles and than came the Nasr. So once again point out how Pakistan claims are bogus?

And point out Which missile beside Ghauri was failed?

 

[DARKY]

Please point out where it is written Pakistan has lack of super computing infrastructure? While Pakistan is rapidly building Nuclear plants for producing plutonium and the sixth nuclear device which Pakistan exploded was plutonium so no problem in designing a plutonium warhead when need arises and the need arised when westarted building cruise missiles and than came the Nasr. So once again point out how Pakistan claims are bogus?

And point out Which missile beside Ghauri was failed?

Supercomputing in India is done at speeds above 500 Teraflops.... while supercomuting in Pakistan is done at 400 Gigaflops which is equivalent to 0.398 Teraflops... so you can see the difference here clearly... besides that the number of supercomputers are also too less compared to India... The supercomputer in Indian Universities are much faster than the best one you got there in Pakistan... there are about 8-10 supercomputers in India which come in top 500 list.
The supercomputers made in our universities exceed the performance over whats made in the best research agencies in Pakistan.

The Plutonium stock of India is among the largest there in the world... whereas annual production in Pakistan is about 15-30Kg or so with those Chinese reactors... with the 1st FBR starting soon in India with 6-7 following the Plutonium stock(8-10 metric tons) is going to multiply exponentially and at a much faster rate.

The problem is that Pakistan have not tested a Sub-kiloton plutonium device... HEU devices are usually much heavier... I gave you the reason why the claim is bogus.. 100kg payload means 20-30-50kg nuclear device... where as the lightest nuclear device in Pakistan is reported to be of 91kg... sub kiloton yield.

North Korean Missiles

Till now Gauri had 100% success rate till a Scientist comes out and reveals about its 100% failure rate.

 

[The Deterrent]

Whats the point developing a longer range babur... the deeper it goes more are its chances of being detected... India is not Iraq/Libya.

To provide strike capability at longer ranges. Moreover, the deeper it goes, the lesser the chances of it to be intercepted because of higher density of SAM systems near the conflict zones.
True that, but as I said, the cruise missiles add diversity to Pakistan's nuclear weapons program.

Pakistan did not provide information about Nasr launch before hand too... K series missile tests are mostly done secretly and little is known about then in public too.

How can you say that?
DRDO and secrets don't usually go along so well.

See there you go... Rest of the warheads tested after the 1st shakti test mostly sub-kiloton design... Now since they tested and validated there might be some reason behind that... Besides Indian warheads are mostly Plutonium based with Boosted fission.
Prithvi is very much like Iskander-M... they can modify and change its path pre-launch.. only problem is that it is liquid fueled.

There is no proof of them being purposely designed to be subkiloton yield nuclear weapons. Interestingly, these claims strated rising just after Pakistan conducted the first test flight of Nasr missile.
No it is not. Iskander can cruise at hypersonic velocities within the atmosphere, which makes it a a survivable weapon in the face of modern ABMs. Prithvi has none of these characteristics. Slow gliding in the terminal phase doesn't makes it a QBM.

Smerch Range is about 90-120km depending on configuration... Pinka-2 is supposed to be having a range of 60-120km depending on warhead configuration.. both will be incorporated with guidance and a single launcher would be more cheaper and destructive than a single Prahar missile with conventional warhead.

Try comparing the firepower of MBRLs with 6 Prahaar missiles. While the guidance stuff do make MBRLs more precise, but the payload just limits their capabilities. For example, a Prahaar missile could potentially carry a bunker-busting munition, and deliver it with precision.

Those were long time back today India has got 8-10 metric tons of fuel grade plutonium enriched enough to make bombs out of them.

And why exactly would India need thousands of bombs against Pakistan? or China for that matter?

Shakti-3/4/5 were all sub-kiloton designs Shakti-3 is a boosted fission design which uses reactor grade plutonium... they all weight 100-150 Kg in warhead configuration.

BR fantasies, nothing else.

Its gets funny when you start saying things like DRDO's performance etc.. Its only time that the industrial weapon manufacturing infrastructure would improve and weapon manufacturing pace would pick up.. Its already happening and would increase exponentially in time to come.

It gets funnier when you assume that somehow, Pakistan's weapon industry would be hibernating meanwhile.

Sure It is... however I would count only the newer versions.. older ones can be taken care of by even S-300 batteries... If they manage to come within striking distance.

It isn't only about older or newer missiles. S-300 simply cannot shoot down a Mach 10 reentry vehicle, even if it was developed in the 80s.

I didn't know Gauri failed every time and even its last test with shaheen guidance was a failure too.
Yes Agni missiles have failed but they have been successful too and the success rate is much higher than failure.

All tests? Now where did that come from?

Those links are from 4 years ago.
And Huge amount of money has been spent in this regard.
Besides that system is very much needed by Armed forces... It suits their limited scale conflict doctrines such as cold-start etc.. very much.

So just because you think that the Army needs this weapon and 4 years have passed since the claim of this achievable capability...a weapon is operationalized...
Hats off.

 

[The Deterrent]

According to Pakistani members who put an estimated weight of Nasr payload to be 100kg must realize that for it to carry the nuclear device the device has to weight 20-50kg.. and keeping in mind that most of the tests done by Pakistan was based on HEU and lack of super computing infrastructure as compared with India.. they claim that Nasr will have a nuclear warhead is quiet dubious and bogus at best... misleading general public as has been done with various missile tests which were declared success while infact they failed, blew up or over shot that targets.

No, they were not all based on HEU. As also mentioned by Dr. Hoodbhoy, Pakistan's nuclear weapons are hybrid-core based. Oh and do tell us, what on earth is Pakistan doing with 4 military Plutonium reactors?
Supercomputers are not the only method of passively testing a nuclear weapons design. Besides, you guys claim that we had loads of Chinese help for the nuclear and missile programs (no doubt we did), but somehow China wouldn't share its supercomputing resources with us...Great!

 

[DARKY]

To provide strike capability at longer ranges. Moreover, the deeper it goes, the lesser the chances of it to be intercepted because of higher density of SAM systems near the conflict zones.
True that, but as I said, the cruise missiles add diversity to Pakistan's nuclear weapons program.

Count in different important cities bases across the country which have SAM coverage and Radar bases either ways its going to be difficult unless those are taken out 1st... For which you need high precision and a Stealth aircraft.

How can you say that?
DRDO and secrets don't usually go along so well.

You can compare that with the fact that K-15 was tested about 10 times before you saw its 1st image... or Arihant/Arindam submarines.

There is no proof of them being purposely designed to be subkiloton yield nuclear weapons. Interestingly, these claims strated rising just after Pakistan conducted the first test flight of Nasr missile.
No it is not. Iskander can cruise at hypersonic velocities within the atmosphere, which makes it a a survivable weapon in the face of modern ABMs. Prithvi has none of these characteristics. Slow gliding in the terminal phase doesn't makes it a QBM.

Are claims needed when you have already tested and verified the devices... they exist from 1998 and much before too.. Nasr or no Nasr doesn't matter India needed low yield weapons as a stop gap measure until Neutron bombs are developed and deployed in large numbers.

Iskander cruises at around 50km similar to Prithvi... this is a rough account of the newer trajectory implemented.

You can see It doesn't go much beyond 60-70km.

Try comparing the firepower of MBRLs with 6 Prahaar missiles. While the guidance stuff do make MBRLs more precise, but the payload just limits their capabilities. For example, a Prahaar missile could potentially carry a bunker-busting munition, and deliver it with precision.

I didnot say that Prahaar will only carry Nuclear payload... It would be carrying other different types of conventional ordinance too... BTW have you seen the different warhead designs and combination used by Pinaka ?

And why exactly would India need thousands of bombs against Pakistan? or China for that matter?

You can ask the same question from USSR/Russia which still owns twice the amount US/NATO does... or even China combined perhaps.

Different requirements different doctrines... India is too surrounded by hostile neighborhood and the claim about that number of warheads was made by a reputed scientist from BARC on a National TV show.

BR fantasies, nothing else.

You won't be blaming BR when that falls on you.

BTW they are Pu based boosted fission mini warheads and and plain fission based HEU.

It gets funnier when you assume that somehow, Pakistan's weapon industry would be hibernating meanwhile.

Isn't it doing the same as of now ?

It isn't only about older or newer missiles. S-300 simply cannot shoot down a Mach 10 reentry vehicle, even if it was developed in the 80s.

You are downplaying the capabilities of S-300 missiles... those were specially designed to intercept the tactical yeild missiles which were supposed to be used by NATO on their armored and mechanized movements... And I won't be surprised If further disturbing facts about the older BM from Pakistan are disclosed in near future.. we have already seen the bluff of Ghauri missiles.

All tests? Now where did that come from?

See the link which I posed about Ghauri failure... the last test with Shaheen guidance also failed which you people were claiming success.

So just because you think that the Army needs this weapon and 4 years have passed since the claim of this achievable capability...a weapon is operationalized...
Hats off.

I never said operationalized... However It might be in advanced stages or near completion stages... With the infrastructure and technical base it is not that far from getting operational... exact time could be 2015 or 2017.[It has been seen as a necessary step towards different MIRV configuration arrangements].

BTW a new Thermonuclear design is also being validated to be used on all SLBM of India from S-5 SSBN onward... It would have the Highest yield among all warheads developed till now.