Indian nuke arsenal dwarfs Pakistan's : Jane's

The Times of India ^ | FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2002 4:25:50 AM | AFP

[Aaron_A]

Sobering thoughts.

[Former Proud Canadian]

Thud-With all due respect, don't assume that these countries have made the same calculations that you have. These weapons are not neccessarily city busters. They are tactical weapons that may be used on troop concentrations, command and control targets, and bridges and other transportation bottlenecks. They may be used on population centers as a last resort or as a "revenge" weapon.

Furthermore, even if they have air burst designs there is a lot of speculation that some of these weapons will not perform as designed. These countries are not noted for their attention to detail and quality control.

[MrNeutron1962]

Not to make undue light of the numbers, but, assuming 50 KT yield each, a total of 10 MT yield. Granted, this will be spread around all over the subcontinent, and that being the case from a human toll perspective a truly horrifying idea, the simple fact is that their nuclear arsenals are far smaller then the total us inventory at the start of the Korean war.

First, the yield estimate my be high by as much as 3x.

Second, I doubt that all of the weapons will survive to produce a yield.

Third, the use of these remaining weapons will most likely be a military targets, and no mass blasting of cities.

So, will it generally suck to live in the battle zone, YES. Will it bring about world wide nuclear destruction, NO.

[Voronin]

The big question is, and that so far I have seen no one ask is 'does either side have the right systems to shoot down each others IRBMs'? As far as I can remember, shooting down IRBMs doesn't contravene any agreement (SCUDS - Gulf War III), so I wonder if some of this 'emergency' equipment that Russia is sending to India may consist of the S-300MPU anti-air/missile system?

What we do know is that the US acquired and early version of this system and built their own version for training - would they pass on information to Pakistan that could render such systems less effective?

VRN

[backhoe]

S-300MPU?

-The S-300PMU [SA-10 land-based, SA-N-6 naval version] surface-to-air missile system --

[DETAILER]

I beleive the prevailng winds in that part of the world are towards the West, meaning fallout would head to China. What a shame. ;)

Also, I don't think cities will be targeted - it would be military targets. Troop and armor concentrations.IMHO

[Thud]

Pakistan's nuclear weapons were designed with Chinese aid, might be actual Chinese designs, and were probably tested in China if they aren't Chinese designs. I am informed that the Chinese tested a "neutron" bomb for us - or else one of our spyl satellites watched the detonation at the precise nanosecond of detonation, which I don't think was a coincidence.

OTOH, it is likely that India's weapons program now has big-time Israeli aid.

[Lazamataz]

20 Kiloton weapons are not that powerful, really. Megaton weapons are powerful. Clearly they have not mastered H-bombs.

[Lazamataz]

City-busters are always airbursts to maximize the blast wave and thermal pulse, and airbursts don't produce short-term fallout.

These are A-bombs, not H-bombs. They are probably not meant to be city-busters. But all nuclear weapons tend to have more effect when detonated at a 1000 to 2000 yard distance from the ground, so I would expect even these A-bombs to be air-detonated.

[lavaroise]

Indeed, this article is a bunch of bull. Nuclear war is sruvivable. India has waited for a bit too long and now the Pakies are about to inflict them real harm.

If fallout were so bad, then nukes would be no deterent. Although smaller kiloton devices do produce more fallout than megaton ones because the fall out is spread in the lower atmosphere, fallout is manageable with homemade trenches or even walking around with plastic masks and ponchos. Fallout only affects the areas for a short time.

[lavaroise]

To support blitz offensives troops would be targeted, however, for long term war, it is better to destroy all civil infrastructures and lifeblood to the troops. This is what worked in Kosovo to shorten the air war there. Clinton is a vicious one indeed.

[OrthodoxPresbyterian]

India has up to 150 nuclear warheads while Pakistan could only call upon a third of that total at most, Jane's defense publications said Thursday, as fears persisted the two rivals were slipping towards a disastrous war.

Hmm... Well, maybe you were right, after all; perhaps FAS estimates of 60 versus 25 were conservative.
Jane's is usually the most accurate of the non-classified, civilian-type observers.

100 or 150 dirty little Hiroshima-size atomics in India's arsenal, and 30 to 50 in Pakistan's.

Nasty.

[Dog Gone]

Hmm... Well, maybe you were right, after all;

Even a broken clock is right twice a day. I won't let it go to my head. ;-)

[RightWhale]

If Musharraf is overthrown in his turn, the new rulers of Pakistan would probably declare war on the West and America in particular within 30 seconds, which would clarify our role in the region immensely.

[Anticommie]

India has up to 150 nuclear warheads while Pakistan could only call upon a third of that total at most

Glad to hear that, in case of nuclear exchange the ragheaded terrorist harbouring Pakistan will glow, that will be a good start!