Solution Pakistan seeks against India could be their nuclear program
In its detailed article, the American publication National Interests came out with a very detailed and compelling article about the possibilities of the Pakistani nuclear program.
The author of the article, Kyle Mizokami, believes that the nuclear program of the Republic of Pakistan may be the answer that the country is looking for to successfully oppose India in the coming years. Is that so?
It is clear that Pakistan has designed in the past and is already developing a number of nuclear capabilities that would help the country become a “full member of the small nuclear group” in the world. In fact, Pakistan is known to have and develop a nuclear arsenal, but it does not yet have the capacity of its “older brothers.” Following in China’s footsteps and as China’s partner against India, the Pakistanis are trying to make their own nuclear triad. nuclear weapons on land, air and sea.
If we go back in time, for example in the 1950s, we will find the patriotic statements of the then President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who is known for his remark that if necessary, the population will eat grass, but will get nuclear bomb. These words were uttered at a time when the rivalry between India and Pakistan was emerging.
And when Bangladesh appeared on the world map in 1971 as a result of Pakistan’s “broken piece of cake”, the country’s nuclear program became the number one priority. There was uncertainty, pain and fear that Pakistan could suffer much greater losses. This, together with progress in developing India’s nuclear program at the time and testing the first Indian bomb in the middle of the decade, “humiliated” Pakistanis, and they already knew that the path they had to take was one – their own nuclear weapons.
Thus, in the following years, Pakistan began its new life in the world of nuclear dominance. Europe has more or less helped the country by providing durable equipment, centrifuges have been built, and at one point Islamabad already had accumulated fuel for nuclear weapons, enriched uranium and plutonium.
There are rumors that to this day cannot be confirmed, but that doesn’t seem to matter that much. Pakistan’s first nuclear bomb is believed to have been produced in mid-1977, three years after the Smiling Buddha’s Indian nuclear bomb test. This only speaks to the progress and rapid pace at which Pakistanis have managed to reach the required level of nuclear development. Other rumors claim that the bomb was actually completed in late 1978 and “tested in the cold” in mid-1983.
And in 1988, things came to light and the world really saw what was happening in the Asian part of the world. That same year, India tested six bombs over a three-day period. Unaware of Pakistan’s capabilities, three weeks later, the Pakistani government tested five bombs in one day and the sixth three days later. It is alleged that until the tests, the bombs were stored and stored in disassembled form.
The first Pakistani bomb was with reinforced uranium and between twenty-five and thirty kilotons.
However, US military intelligence doubts the test of the sixth bomb. Not so much in its capabilities, but in the owner of the bomb. According to the US military, the sixth test was conducted by North Korea under the guise of Pakistan, so that the world does not find out about the existence of nuclear weapons in the hands of North Koreans. Apparently, this plan failed, as the US reconnaissance aircraft “Constant Phoenix” found plutonium traces after the test.
Another reason for this claim is that the Pakistani engineer and one of the founding leaders of Pakistan’s nuclear program, AQ Khan, has managed to sell uranium to the Korean military through his network.
Thus, over the years, we come to the present day in which various experts claim that Pakistan currently has 110 to 130 nuclear bombs. This is due to the fact that the republic’s reserves are constantly increasing and according to some experts, based on these reserves and the production of enriched uranium, Pakistanis are able to produce up to 20 nuclear bombs a year. Whether or not they do, we can’t tell from the sources we have, but if we make a simple equation and take the facts for granted, Pakistan may soon be the third nuclear power – after the United States and Russia. , and displacing India, China and its European partners.
Western intelligence claims that Pakistanis keep their nuclear potential in one place – the province of Punjab. Indirectly and unofficially, Pakistan also confirmed this statement, adding that about 10,000 troops and special forces units guarded the area with restricted and rather restricted access. The choice of Pakistan to store nuclear weapons in this particular region is not accidental, as it is located away from enemies and the Taliban.
Pakistan’s advantage in the case against India is the lack of a clear nuclear doctrine, which does not wait for the first nuclear strike to be struck by the enemy, but reserves the right Islamabad to strike first. All of this defines this region as a “nuclear hot spot” in the world that could escalate. Especially against the backdrop of hostilities and hostilities in recent years, especially after the Mumbai bombing in 2008, which was recognized as organized by Islamabad.
And so, a quick look at the last decades of the last century and the beginning of this one found that what the Pakistanis wanted to achieve, they did. nuclear triad. because that’s exactly what they have today – nuclear weapons on water, air and land. Something that in 1871 was just a skig or a note in someone’s notebook.
The allegations also come from Western intelligence, which claims Islamabad has modified US F-16A fighters and French Mirages into aircraft capable of delivering a nuclear bomb. This allows in the event of a conflict between India and Pakistan, Islamabad simply to use aircraft to deliver nuclear weapons directly to the battlefield.
Recall that India recently paid and expects the first deliveries of air defense system S-400 produced by the Russians, which is considered the best in the world. Turkey did the same. The F-16 or the French Mirage definitely cannot overcome this system, given that it is claimed that the American F-35 and F-22 cannot do the same.
But Pakistan also has ground-based nuclear missiles included in their nuclear triad. The Hatf mobile rocket series includes Hatf-III solid propellant (180 miles), Hatf-IV solid propellant (466 miles) and Hatf V liquid propellant (766 miles). According to experts, the Hatf-IV missile is in operation in the Pakistani army, as well as Shahin 3, which can easily hit Nicobar and the Andaman Islands.
The third part of Pakistan’s nuclear triad is the naval nuclear potential. Against the background of Western designs and capabilities, Islamabad has Babur-1 and Babur-2. The second looks more like a bullet with small tail wings and two main wings that are powered by a turbofan or turbojet engine. However, the problem with this missile is not in the range of damage or the damage it can cause, but in the coordination system, ie. lack of GPS. Yes, this missile does not have this modern device, but navigation technologies for terrain contour matching (TERCOM) and Digital Scene Matching and Area Connection (DSMAC).
This missile is also developed in a variant for use, or more precisely for launching from land. In January this year, Pakistan tested the third version of the missile – Babur-3, and many experts believe that it is the most successful so far.
One thing is clear today: Pakistan can not only use its nuclear potential as a deterrent, but it can safely use it to wage war.
And that can be a problem. This may bring back the Cold War, but not with the expected primary sources, the United States and Russia, but with India and Pakistan, because both countries are currently participating in the regional “nuclear race” competition, well known to the world since the middle and end of the last century.
Thus, we return to the need for an arms control agreement, but not only between Russia and the United States, but necessarily between China, India and Pakistan.