Satellites detect Pak IRBMs near LoC

Intelligence Online ^ | 23rd May 2002

[maquiladora]

23 May 2002: Satellite pictures show 82 Pakistani short-range and intermediate-range ballistic missiles close to the Line-of-Control opposite the Jammu sector.

Defence ministry officials said that the missiles on mobile launchers aimed against India are moved close to the border every night.

The missiles are removed in the day and kept at sub-station command control near the Sialkot sector.

Indian intelligence detected these missile movements five days ago.

Officials were initially puzzled by these movements and attributed it to the annual maintenance check of missile stores at Pakistan’s Sargoda missile base.

The Sargoda missile base was activated last week.

Pakistan has seven missile stores and sub-station command centres fronting Indian border areas.

Officials say that Pakistan has deployed 44 short-range (100-150-kilometre range) Hatf-2 and Hatf-3 missiles in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir along the LoC facing Akhnoor-Chumb-Samba sector.

The remaining 38 Shaheen, Ghauri-1 and Ghauri-2 missiles are on mobile launchers and moved from place to place.

Pakistan has about 150-200 Ghauri-1 and Ghauri-2 missiles of probably North Korean origin.

Satellite pictures have captured batch numbers on Pakistani missile canisters.

Officials suggest that 38 additional IRBMs could have been removed from the peacetime storage centre in the Rawalpindi sector and deployed in forward areas.

The IRBMs on mobile launchers are being brought within 20 kilometres of the LoC for the last four days.

[Black Agnes]

ping!

[maquiladora]

ping

[AppyPappy]

A target rich environment.

[maquiladora]

A target rich environment.

I think India should consider acting now, before Pakistan has even more time to prepare itself.

[Free the USA]

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[RightWhale]

A target rich environment.

They have lots of toys. Mobile missile launchers are hard to find, though, especially at night. Probably a significant number of these missiles could be successfully launched in case of attack, which they expect will come during the night to begin with.

[maquiladora]

Question is, are these fitted with conventional or nuclear warheads? It could be that Pakistan is spreading its forces to forward locations to reduce to risk of an Indian pre-emptive air strike on the missile bases where these could normally be concentrated.

[Poohbah]

They have lots of toys. Mobile missile launchers are hard to find, though, especially at night. Probably a significant number of these missiles could be successfully launched in case of attack, which they expect will come during the night to begin with.

Hard to find from the air. If India has eyes on the ground, it's a slightly different story.

[billbears]

That's a lot of radioactivity to spread over Southern China.

[RightWhale]

If they are conventional warheads, a few dozen won't make any difference at all to a full scale military operation.

[maquiladora]

India will be watching the skies at all times with their low-level radar units...:

...and their UAV's like the Nishant, complete with TV/LLTV cameras, FLIR and IRLS systems:

[Dog Gone]

I think India should consider acting now, before Pakistan has even more time to prepare itself.

I think both sides had better cool their jets before a lot of people get killed for no good reason.

The US is trying very hard to prevent such a war, because the only winner will be terrorist networks. Everyone else loses, including the US.

[RightWhale]

A guided missile launcher is the size of a semi truck. A little camo and *poof* it's gone. Just like Iraq's Scud launchers where several were able to launch in spite of extensive aerial surveillance, and that was in terrain where it is harder to hide things.

[Dead Dog]

A good reason for us to have them.

[Poohbah]

Like I said, "eyes on the ground." That means some Indian soldiers doin' da LRRP thang...

[GOP_1900AD]

An Indian win would be akin to France winning against Germany in 1936, had they decided to strike. There are winners and losers in great powers conflicts. In this one, the clear choice in terms of US interests is India. It's a no brainer.

[r9etb]

Defence ministry officials said that the missiles on mobile launchers aimed against India are moved close to the border every night.

The missiles are removed in the day and kept at sub-station command control near the Sialkot sector.

This is a pretty stupid little dance they're doing if it's just for show. The Pakistanis aren't stupid, however.

So the most reasonable explanation is that (a) these are nukes, and (b) they're there to be used against an expected Indian offensive.

[Jethro Tull]

Here's hoping for a double knockout!

[Stirner]

"In this one, the clear choice in terms of US interests is India. It's a no brainer." Why do you say that? I'm not saying you're wrong, but just want to know your reason for comparing India to France and Pakistan to (Nazi)Germany. There clearly have been attacks on Indian assets coming out of Pakistan, but the government there claims the attacks come from terrorists that it can't effectively control. Maybe they are telling the truth, and India's crushing the Pakistani government's power would just leave those terrorists even more unrestrained than they are now. Or maybe there's real proof that the Pakistani government is fully involved in the attacks.

I'm generally not a fan of Islamic governments and their demands and grievances, but, as I understand it, the deal at partition was that the majority religious affiliation in a region would determine whether that region became part of Pakistan or remained Indian. Kashmir has a majority muslim population, but a Hindu royal family. India broke its own principle and sided with the royals. If all that is so, then India is in the wrong.