Bharat Rakshak

Cyrano wrote: ↑02 Oct 2023 12:24 Amber G,
While accusing others of bias, you don't seem to read posts carefully.

I wrote IF true, and thats a big IF. Instead of debunking the fellow who wrote that article, you go off about ginger counters etc.

The fellow says a fusion type mini nuke. Before you start lecturing, we all know what it takes to trigger one. How much radioactivity would that leave behind? No part of the Swedish agencies reports were made public. SO we HAVE to take what Swedish agencies are reporting using their seismic sensors and $25 or $100 Geiger counters, and take their word as gospel. Of course, Russia whose pipelines were destroyed was excluded from the investigation.

It doesn't matter HOW the NS was destroyed beyond a point. WHO dun it is what matters now. The MSM that wrote scores of pages on Bucha and kidnapped children was silent on such a huge ecological and energy security disaster, begs the question WHY ?

I'd love to see how these NATO countries and their MSMs will react if India did another round of N tests, to prove its mini-nuke designs. Hope we'll have you batting for Bharat even then.

SSridhar wrote: ↑06 Oct 2023 11:27 Discussion about why the US must move away from entirely counterforce to a mix of counterforce plus countervalue, in order to take the combined might of China and Russia, without increasing its nuclear arsenal.

The U.S. Nuclear Arsenal Can Deter Both China and Russia - Glaser, Acton & Fetter - Foreign Affairs

ramana wrote: ↑07 Apr 2017 00:56 I think a revisit of the NFU part of the Indian MND is appropriate at this uncertain times.

Haridas wrote: ↑29 Dec 2023 23:50

ramana wrote: ↑07 Apr 2017 00:56 I think a revisit of the NFU part of the Indian MND is appropriate at this uncertain times.

Current global situation is more than uncertain, it is volatile time.

Bharat must publicly share it revised doctrine (in summary).

One anecdote: After the nuclear tests of 1998, He said something very telling to in an Indian Science conference "

You people in Defence, Atomic Energy and Space think of these as "strategic". But without food security, we couldn't have done the nuclear tests."

He was right.

The MIRV tech has been collecting dust at the Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), Hyderabad, for the last 19 years. It was a project lovingly shepherded to near completion by RN Agarwal, the then Director, ASL. He wanted to complete it by the time he retired in 2004. But the project missed the deadline by a year. In part because Dr Agarwal’s approaches since 2002 to the first BJP government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee for approval of a test launch of a MIRVed Agni did not elicit the response he had hoped for. The Vajpayee PMO, with Brajesh Mishra, the National Security Adviser-cum-Principal Private Secretary to the PM, heading it, repeatedly said NO! But Agarwal’s spirited campaign for the Indian MIRV project cost him a promotion. He was passed over for the post of DRDO chief and Secretary to the Govt of India (GOI), because Mishra feared Agarwal would use the DRDO pulpit to push MIRV, which Mishra did not want. The head of the Arjun Main Battle Tank Project, Dr M Natarajan, was appointed to lead DRDO instead.

The Manmohan Singh regime wouldn’t OK the MIRV test, and Narendra Modi didn’t either until sometime in late 2022 when he green-flagged the Divyastra test launch.

The NNSA, an arm of the U.S. Energy Department, said in a statement issued Thursday that it "relies on subcritical experiments to collect valuable information to support the safety, security, reliability and effectiveness of America's nuclear warheads, without the use of nuclear explosive testing."

It said the experiment was executed Tuesday evening in the Principal Underground Laboratory for Subcritical Experimentation facility at the Nevada National Security Site.

The United States suspended underground nuclear tests in 1992 and began subcritical nuclear tests five years later.

As subcritical nuclear tests do not result in a nuclear explosion, the United States has asserted that they are not prohibited under the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which the country has signed but not ratified.

The NNSA also said the latest test, which brought the total number of U.S. subcritical tests to 34, did not form a self-sustaining, supercritical chain reaction and was therefore consistent with the country's self-imposed moratorium on nuclear testing in place since 1992.

Tuesday's test was the first in the "Nimble series," carried out with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the NNSA said, adding it will continue the new cycle of experiments also with support from Los Alamos National Laboratory.

"We plan to increase the frequency of these subcritical experiments so we can continue to gather important data on nuclear weapons materials, with no technical need for a return to underground nuclear explosive testing," Marvin Adams, deputy administrator for the agency's defense programs, said in the statement.

MUMBAI: Anil Kakodkar, former chairman of atomic energy commission (AEC), has revealed that Siegfried Hecker, former director of Los Alamos National Laboratory in the US, had deposed in the US Senate in 2008 that the sanctions which followed Pokhran 2 tests had no impact on India’s nuclear weapons programme.
Kakodkar stated this while speaking at a programme organized by the National Academy of Sciences on May 18, in New Delhi, to mark the golden jubilee of “Smiling Buddha”, code name for India’s first nuclear test at Pokhran in Rajasthan on this very day in 1974.
Los Alamos National Laboratory is home to the Manhattan Project, the secret US programme during World War II to design and develop the first atomic bomb. Hecker was the director of the lab from 1986 to 1997.
Kakodkar quoted Hecker as having told the Senate: “I don’t think our sanctions have particularly stopped its (India) nuclear weapons programme. What our sanctions have done is slow down their nuclear energy programmes.” Kakodkar also recalled Hecker’s statement to the effect that India is now a nuclear weapons country.

A ccording to Kakodkar, Hecker further told the Senate: “It may actually, and I believe, be much in our benefit to have nuclear cooperation for nuclear energy with India.”
“They (India) will never get rid of the nuclear weapons they have now until there is global disarmament,” Kakodkar quoted Hecker as having said during his deposition before the US Senate.

R Chidambaram, also a former chairman of AEC and the architect of Operation Shakti, or Pokhran 2, when India conducted a series of five nuclear-weapon tests on May 11 and 13, 1998, who also spoke at the Saturday event, made it clear that “there is no real difference between a ‘Peaceful Nuclear Explosion’ (PNE)” — the phraseology used by India to describe operation “Smiling Buddha” in 1974 — and a nuclear weapons test.


“It was only in terms of packaging,” Chidambaram said, while underscoring the need and importance of nuclear weapons for a country like India.

China is boosting its nuclear arsenal faster than any other country around the globe, and now has triple the number of warheads that India has, while it also deploys some of them on "high operational alert" on ballistic missiles.

Pakistan, in turn, maintains its rough parity with India in the number of nuclear warheads, while Russia and the US are leagues ahead of others, together accounting for 90% of all nuclear weapons.
China now has 500 warheads, up from 410 in January 2023, while India has 172 (from 164 in 2023) and Pakistan 170 (unchanged from 2023), as per the latest assessment by the Stockholm International Peace Institute (SIPRI)

India is increasingly going in for more canister-launch missiles - with the warhead already mated with the missile - for the requisite operational readiness and flexibility to store it for long periods, swiftly transport it through rail or road, and fire it whenever required.
India is also set to strengthen its weakest leg of the nuclear triad by finally commissioning its second SSBN (naval parlance for nuclear-propelled submarines armed with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles), INS Arighat, within the next few months. The first, INS Arihant, became operational in 2018.

SIPRI also said India, Pakistan and North Korea are all pursuing the capability to deploy multiple warheads on ballistic missiles, a capability that the US, UK, Russia, France and China already have. "This would enable a rapid potential increase in deployed warheads, as well as the possibility for nuclear-armed countries to threaten the destruction of significantly more targets," it said.

A recent image captured during rehearsals for the 2023 Pakistan Day Parade has shed light on the potential nuclear capabilities of Pakistan's JF-17 Thunder Block II aircraft. The photograph depicts a JF-17 carrying what appears to be a Ra'ad air-launched cruise missile (ALCM), marking the first public observation of this configuration.

Analyzing images of a JF-17 Thunder Block II from the 2023 Pakistan Day Parade rehearsals, the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) confirmed that the fighter jet was equipped with a Ra'ad-I nuclear missile.

To determine the specific type of Ra'ad missile in the image, comparisons were made with Ra'ad-I and Ra'ad-II missiles displayed in previous Pakistan Day Parades. While the Ra'ad-II, first unveiled in 2017, was presented as having nearly double the range capability of the Ra'ad-I, external features did not clearly distinguish the two versions until 2022. The latest Ra'ad-II, displayed in 2022 and 2024, features a distinct 'x-shaped' tail fin configuration, while the missile photographed on the JF-17 more closely resembles the 'twin-tail' configuration of the Ra'ad-I, the FAS report said.

Using Photoshop's Vanishing Point feature and reference measurements from the vehicles carrying the missiles, the lengths of the Ra'ad-I and Ra'ad-II were estimated to be around 4.9 meters each. The missile on the JF-17 was also measured using the aircraft's length as a reference, resulting in a similar 4.9-meter estimate. These measurements, along with the tail fin configuration, suggest that the missile observed on the JF-17 is likely the Ra'ad-I ALCM rather than the newer Ra'ad-II or the conventional anti-ship variant, Taimoor, the FAS report by Eliana Johns said.

The image provides evidence that Pakistan has made significant progress in equipping its JF-17s with the capability to supplement or replace the nuclear strike role of the ageing Mirage III/Vs. However, questions remain about the deployment status of the Ra'ad systems and whether Pakistan will continue to retain a nuclear gravity bomb capability or transition to stand-off cruise missiles exclusively.

These developments occur amidst an ongoing nuclear arms competition in the region, with Pakistan, India, and China pursuing advanced technologies such as multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs). The heightened tensions and the development of short-range, lower-yield nuclear-capable systems by Pakistan have raised concerns about accelerated arms racing and escalation risks in a potential conflict between India and Pakistan.

India has more nuclear weapons than Pakistan, but Beijing’s strategic arsenal is bigger than New Delhi’s, said the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in a new yearbook released on Monday.

SIPRI pegged the number of nuclear warheads in the Indian arsenal at 180 as of January 2025, compared to 172 a year earlier, while Pakistan is estimated to have 170 nuclear weapons, the same as last year. China’s arsenal consisted of 600 nuclear warheads in January 2025, up from 500 last year.

SIPRI revises its world nuclear forces data every year based on new information. Its latest report comes after India launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of May 7 and struck terror and military installations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) following the Pahalgam terror strike in which 26 people were shot dead. The strikes triggered a four-day military confrontation with Pakistan involving fighter jets, missiles, drones, long-range weapons, and heavy artillery.

The SIPRI report said Russia and the US have the biggest arsenals among the nine nuclear-armed states (5,459 and 5,177). It added that although Pakistan remains the focus of India’s nuclear deterrent, India appears to be placing growing emphasis on longer-range weapons capable of reaching targets throughout China.

India last year commissioned its second indigenous nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, INS Arighaat, at Visakhapatnam in a step towards strengthening the country’s nuclear triad (ability to launch strategic weapons from land, sea, and air).

What are India and Pakistan’s military & nuclear capabilities?
India’s nuclear weapons, the SIPRI report said, were assigned to a maturing nuclear triad of aircraft, land-based missiles, and SSBNs (ship submersible ballistic nuclear or nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines).

“It has long been assumed that India stores its nuclear warheads separate from its deployed launchers during peacetime; however, the country’s recent moves towards placing missiles in canisters and conducting sea-based deterrence patrols suggest that India could be shifting in the direction of mating some of its warheads with their launchers in peacetime,” the report said. India is building a fleet of four to six SSBNs as it continues to develop the naval component of its nascent nuclear triad, it said.

The country’s third nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, Aridaman or S-4, is set to be commissioned later next year, followed by a fourth SSBN codenamed S-4*. Arighaat or S-3 is the second Arihant-class submarine and more advanced than INS Arihant (S-2).

The US, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China are the only other countries that can deliver nuclear warheads from a submarine.

China is in the middle of a significant modernisation and expansion of its nuclear arsenal, SIPRI said. “Depending on how it decides to structure its forces, China could potentially have at least as many ICBMs (inter-continental ballistic missiles) as either Russia or the US by the turn of the decade, although its stockpile of nuclear warheads is still expected to remain much smaller than the stockpiles of either of those two countries.”

The rise in the number of states with multiple-warhead programmes could potentially lead to a rapid increase in deployed warheads and allow nuclear-armed states to threaten the destruction of significantly more targets, especially in the case of China, which has the fastest-growing nuclear arsenal in the world, the report said.

India has developed the Agni-5 missile with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) technology. The MIRV capability allows the weapon system to deliver multiple nuclear warheads against different targets spread across hundreds of kilometres. MIRVs can cause more destruction than traditional missiles that carry a single warhead.

India’s nuclear doctrine, promulgated in 2003, commits the country to a “no first use” posture, with weapons to be used only in retaliation against a nuclear attack on Indian territory or Indian forces. It states that nuclear retaliation to a first strike will be massive and designed to inflict unacceptable damage.

Under India’s doctrine, retaliatory attacks can only be authorised by the civilian political leadership through the Nuclear Command Authority, consisting of a political council and executive council. The prime minister chairs the political council, while the national security advisor chairs the executive council.

From: Hindustan Times

India has more nuclear warheads than Pakistan but trails China: SIPRI

Amber G. wrote: ↑20 Jun 2025 11:41
For fun this is interesting from FAS..(Not making this up).. JEFF has 10 Nukes????.

Amber G. wrote: ↑20 Jun 2025 11:41
India has more nuclear warheads than Pakistan but trails China: SIPRI

Amber G. wrote: ↑01 Sep 2025 10:04 ...

The real credibility lies in delivery accuracy, survivability of forces, and second-strike capability — not sheer explosive yield.

...

The US had delivery accuracy, survivability of forces, and second-strike capability and more in 1945... they still used sheer explosive yield

Amber G. wrote: ↑01 Sep 2025 03:06

Mort Walker wrote: ↑01 Sep 2025 01:41
Who said this was for fun? Data and deterrence are needed. IOR is a big area. TSAR bomba concept needs to be re-visited with 100MT. The picture is going to get really clear when Gor goes in for Senate confirmation. Relations are set to go into the toilet once the Sooth-Asian envoy is confirmed.

Serious reply - My take (this is what I will say in more serious forums too - and have said similar things before)

- The Tsar Bomba fallacy
Revisiting a 100 MT bomb is like bringing back steam engines to prove you can run trains faster. Even in the 1950s, physicists knew that ‘super-megaton’ devices were technically flashy but militarily useless — impossible to deliver, wasteful of fissile material, and creating more fallout than deterrence. Nobody is impressed in 2025 by craters.
- I have personally visited the Nevada Test Site, where the U.S. conducted hundreds of nuclear explosions — including Sedan (1962), a 104 kiloton device that left one of the largest man-made craters on Earth. For years, the U.S. was setting off nearly one test a week. The sheer scale of those experiments proved one point clearly: no nation today needs that kind of destructive “data” anymore. Just as the U.S. moved beyond testing, India too has the technical maturity and scientific base to validate designs without turning deserts into craters. (I wrote about this in nuclear dhaga)

- No ‘data’ gap
We don’t need new mushroom clouds for confidence. As you know Hiroshima’s uranium bomb was never even tested — the physics was solid, and leaders knew it. Nagasaki’s plutonium implosion was tested once, then trusted. Today, with modern supercomputing and decades of open literature, nobody doubts India’s capabilities.

- Deterrence ≠ bigger blast
Credibility doesn’t come from stockpiling giant toys. It comes from precision, delivery systems, and proven competence. India already shows that — from surgical strikes to missile tests that land within meters.

- Reputation through science, not fallout
India’s soft landing on the Moon, its Mars orbiter, and now Operation Sindoor speak louder than a 100 MT crater. Exporting heavy water to Canada or isotopes to the U.S. adds to that credibility — India is seen as a responsible nuclear steward, not a reckless one.

- The real deterrent
In today’s Indo-Pacific, deterrence is credibility + partnerships + economic weight. The quickest way to the ‘toilet’ in relations is to start waving Tsar Bomba fantasies. The quickest way to influence is to lead in space, energy, AI, and precise low-yield deterrence — not in 100 MT fireballs."

Tsar Bomba impressed 1960s schoolboys. In 2025, it only impresses YouTube thumbnails

- Amber G.
(Added later : For clarity, I have x posted this in Deterrence thread )

Amber G. wrote: ↑01 Sep 2025 21:58 In 1945 there was no real ‘second-strike’ — the U and Pu stockpiles weren’t even enough for extra bombs. Delivery was by B-29s with ~20 KT yield weapons, not MT-class or accurate missiles.