India-Pakistan Nuclear Arms Race
Why has Pakistan developed and successfully tested nuclear-capable MIRV (Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicles) and SLCM (Submarine Launched Cruise Missile)? How do these additions to Pakistan's nuclear arsenal enhance its nuclear deterrence against India? Was Pakistan forced into these technologies by India's development of anti-ballistic missiles and nuclear triad? How will India respond to these developments? Does India have multiple warhead missiles under development?
Why has Pakistan developed tactical nuclear weapons like short-range Nasr missile? Can't Pakistan use its conventional armed forces to effectively deter India's plans under its Cold Start Doctrine (CSD)? What is Pakistan's New Concept of War Fighting (NCWF) Doctrine? Would Pakistan be able to mobilize its conventional forces rapidly? Would Pakistan army, air force and navy be able to coordinate their response under NCWF Doctrine?
Why is India waging a proxy terror war in Pakistan? Why does western government officials' and western media's public narrative completely ignore the reality that has been privately unofficially acknowledged by some American and Indian insiders?
What are the chances of India and Pakistan talking peace? Has Pakistan been an obstacle to peace with India? Can Kashmir issue be set aside for India and Pakistan to have better ties? Are Pakistanis ready for a peace deal with India?
Why do analysts like Christine Fair see similarities between India's BJP party and America's Ku Klux Klan (KKK)? Why is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as being like a KKK Grand Wizard? Why is Nazi leader Adolf Hitler promoted as an "inspirational leader" in an Indian children's book? Why do Hindu Nationalists include Hitler among world leaders who have “devoted their lives for the betterment of their country and people.”
Does India under Nazi-loving Hindu Nationalist Modi pose a serious threat to peace in South Asia and the rest of the world? Could Hindutva fanaticism spark an India-Pakistan nuclear war? Are India's ruling Hindu Nationalists overconfident and reckless enough to start a war against Pakistan? What do independent and Indian analysts think about the conventional strengths of the two militaries?
Viewpoint From Overseas host Faraz Darvesh discusses these questions with Misbah Azam and Riaz Haq (www.riazhaq.com)
https://youtu.be/3BT2rgFbkZA
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
South Asia Investor Review
India-Pakistan Ties: Who's at Fault?
700,000 Indian Soldiers vs 10 Million Kashmiris
Why is India Sponsoring Terror in Pakistan?
Ex RAW Agents Blame Kulbhushan Jadhav For Getting Caught
Pakistan's Conventional Deterrence Against India
Pakistan's Nuclear Triad
Islamophobia Going Mainstream
Christine Fair Compares India's BJP with America's KKK
Hindutva-Nazi Alliance
Hindutva Going Global
Riaz Haq's Youtube Channel
Viewpoint From Overseas Channel
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| Indian Children's Book Cover. Source: New York Times |
Why is India waging a proxy terror war in Pakistan? Why does western government officials' and western media's public narrative completely ignore the reality that has been privately unofficially acknowledged by some American and Indian insiders?
What are the chances of India and Pakistan talking peace? Has Pakistan been an obstacle to peace with India? Can Kashmir issue be set aside for India and Pakistan to have better ties? Are Pakistanis ready for a peace deal with India?
Why do analysts like Christine Fair see similarities between India's BJP party and America's Ku Klux Klan (KKK)? Why is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as being like a KKK Grand Wizard? Why is Nazi leader Adolf Hitler promoted as an "inspirational leader" in an Indian children's book? Why do Hindu Nationalists include Hitler among world leaders who have “devoted their lives for the betterment of their country and people.”
Does India under Nazi-loving Hindu Nationalist Modi pose a serious threat to peace in South Asia and the rest of the world? Could Hindutva fanaticism spark an India-Pakistan nuclear war? Are India's ruling Hindu Nationalists overconfident and reckless enough to start a war against Pakistan? What do independent and Indian analysts think about the conventional strengths of the two militaries?
Viewpoint From Overseas host Faraz Darvesh discusses these questions with Misbah Azam and Riaz Haq (www.riazhaq.com)
https://youtu.be/3BT2rgFbkZA
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
South Asia Investor Review
India-Pakistan Ties: Who's at Fault?
700,000 Indian Soldiers vs 10 Million Kashmiris
Why is India Sponsoring Terror in Pakistan?
Ex RAW Agents Blame Kulbhushan Jadhav For Getting Caught
Pakistan's Conventional Deterrence Against India
Pakistan's Nuclear Triad
Islamophobia Going Mainstream
Christine Fair Compares India's BJP with America's KKK
Hindutva-Nazi Alliance
Hindutva Going Global
Riaz Haq's Youtube Channel
Viewpoint From Overseas Channel
Comments
https://thewire.in/culture/how-i-got-over-that-dark-geographic-shadow-called-pakistan … via @thewire_in
Pakistan became an enemy that came between my friends and me occasionally, and between my country and me often. My yearning for acceptance of my loyalty as an Indian was strong, even though it came at the cost of irrationally bashing ‘Pakistan’ for its cricket and its politics, and anything that kept me on ‘the side of my people’ was acceptable to me.
So, Pakistan, with which I had maintained a safe distance growing up, came close, uncomfortably close, when my husband had to travel to Pakistan for his journalistic pursuits. It was almost an irritation when my father had to go to the Pakistan High Commission to fetch my husband’s visa in his absence.
My work got me in touch with Pakistani academics and researchers, and that is when I began to know Pakistan as its people. I found a window into their research, courses, and universities, daily email exchange and communication grew, and very soon my Facebook profile could list at least a hundred ‘friends’ in Pakistan. In early 2017, as my son recovered from a major heart surgery at Jaypee Hospital, I learnt of a family who had traveled from Pakistan for their son’s surgery. Our children were in the same ICU, fighting bravely for life, and outside, their Indian and Pakistani mothers shared their grief and bonded over the pain that they were going through. After three months of tough fight, the Pakistani boy passed away, and I remember his inconsolable mother as she cried in disbelief at her misfortune and the futility of her struggle. The little hope and courage that I would gather every day to see my son for two minutes every morning in the ICU seemed ruptured, and I could feel her pain. I hugged her, as this was the only solace that I could offer to another mother, who happened to be a Pakistani.
A few days ago, I was at the Chaophraya Emerging Leaders’ Dialogue in Bangkok. A first of its kind in a nine-year-old Track Two dialogue between India and Pakistan, the dialogue brought together mid-career professionals who represented the next generation of leadership across industry and scholarship from both countries.
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I can claim to know the ‘people’ side of Pakistan now, which is as humble, passionate, and desirous of amity as are the people in India. They are also progressive, articulate, and ambitious, as are my people.
I can appreciate them for what they are without the fear of being abused and demonised for this. I have come of age. But not all Indian Muslims who are subjected to verbal abuse and violent attacks and are repeatedly asked to ‘go to Pakistan’ will have the opportunity of mental healing. School-going Muslim children, who are derogatorily called ‘Pakistani’ by their classmates, will grow up as vulnerable and marginalised adults. No cricket enthusiast will ever be able to appreciate cricket for the spirit of the game, and no one will offer a hand of friendship.
So next time, when some Vinay Katiyar (founder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s youth wing, Bajrang Dal) asks Indian Muslims to go to Pakistan, we should be able to tell him: I belong to India, it is my homeland, and Pakistanis are friends.
http://www.atimes.com/article/fear-loss-jobs-indian-tv-brands-people-hindu-haters/
“My sister got a call from her friend saying ‘your brother’s name is Riyaz, right? His photo is on TV and they are saying he’s anti-army and a Hindu-hater,'” Riyaz Ahmed, one of the people named in the segment, told Asia Times. “My mother was in shock and crying,” he added.
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growing debate about the quality of journalism on Indian television and government influence intensified after the country’s second most watched news channel branded some people an “Opposition Troll Army” against the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party as well as “Hindu haters.”
In a segment aired last Friday, news channel Times Now showed photographs, twitter names and selected tweets from six users known to be supporters of the Congress party, and brandished them abusive trolls and “Hindu haters.”
“My sister got a call from her friend saying ‘your brother’s name is Riyaz, right? His photo is on TV and they are saying he’s anti-army and a Hindu-hater,'” Riyaz Ahmed, one of the people named in the segment, told Asia Times. “My mother was in shock and crying,” he added.
The segment also came at a grim time for 41-year-old writer and entrepreneur Sanjukta Basu, the fourth person mentioned by Times Now Editor-in-Chief Rahul Shivshankar.
She had spent the morning with her family, amid rituals to commemorate her mother who passed away in April last year. “My father was already in a delicate state of mind and we come from a humble middle-class family – it’s not like we are very rich, powerful or influential people – so [on seeing the segment] he just instantly went pale and needed to lie down,” Sanjukta said.
I am scared for my life … in my polling booth 97% of votes go to BJP,” Riyaz tweeted soon after the segment aired.
Riyaz and Sanjukta said that amid India’s current political and religious environment, the “Hindu hater” tag had endangered their lives. “Imagine some extremist Hindu somewhere adds my name and photo to a list of ‘anti-Hindus’ and just like that I’ll be on their target list,” said Riyaz. “If I’m going out to meet someone, my family keeps calling or messaging every 10-15 minutes to check 0n my safety,” he added.
Support from neighbors have helped calm Riyaz’s immediate fears, but he still dreaded his face or location being published in the news. “My neighbors will protect me, but I don’t know what thousands of others will do,” he said.
Sanjukta had similar concerns about the segment. “Tomorrow one Shambhu Lal Raigar might just feel like killing me because he heard I’m a Hindu-hater on Times Now,” she said. Shambhu Lal Raigar is a Rajasthan man who uploaded a chilling video of himself hacking and burning a Muslim migrant worker to death in December last year.
“They dehumanized and objectified me. They numbered me and put labels on me … we are tax-paying, law-abiding citizens with the same rights as Shivshankar. They can’t make such allegations without giving us an opportunity to be heard,” she said.
Riyaz was also fired from his job because of the segment. “I was working in public relations, and though I have a good a relationship with my boss, he called me and said he can’t have someone branded a ‘Hindu hater’ handling his communications,” Riyaz said.
“I am not naming my employer because he will be attacked for either firing me or simply being associated with me,” he said, adding that the information will be available for legal scrutiny.
Sanjukta also said she was worried about her value in the market as a freelance journalist after being labelled a “Congress troll.”
Munir AkramUpdated April 15, 2018
https://www.dawn.com/news/1401703/complex-equations
While Pakistan’s diplomacy is preoccupied with managing the crisis with the US, other emerging trends could affect Pakistan’s strategic interests and its stable relationship with China.
The US-India alliance is pushing Pakistan into an even greater dependence on China and to promote new cooperation with Russia. Yet, Moscow still is obliged to retain its legacy arms supply relationship with India. And both China and Russia want to hold back India from a full-blown military alliance with the US.
China is progressively recognising that, despite Sino-US interdependencies and its best efforts to avoid friction, the Trump administration is ideologically committed to confronting and containing China, economically, politically and militarily. China wants to diminish the strength of the coalition the US wants to deploy against it. It is building close relations with several neighbours — Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar — and even those, like the Philippines, with which it has maritime disputes. The rhetoric against Japan has been softened.
Since the resolution of the Doklam dispute, China has made several notable overtures to New Delhi, including the mention of the anti-India terrorist groups in the BRICS Summit communiqué and, more recently, by lifting its objection to Pakistan’s listing on the FATF’s grey list. Meanwhile, some Chinese commentaries have highlighted the Sino-Indian convergent interests, including their $100 billion trade relationship, substantial Chinese investment in India and similar trade friction with the US.
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Among other things, India is likely to seek: Chinese pressure on Pakistan to act against pro-Kashmiri militant groups and end all support to the ongoing Kashmiri freedom struggle; and restrictions on the supply of advanced Chinese weapons systems and technology to Pakistan.
Pakistan should advance its own five-point positive agenda to intensify and modernise its time-tested relationship with China. While remaining responsive to China’s global and regional interests, Islamabad should urge Beijing, at the highest level, to:
— work actively for a just and peaceful solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN resolutions and an end to India’s brutal suppression of the Kashmiri people’s freedom movement. Without this, there will be no durable peace or stability in South Asia.
— express publicly its opposition to any use or threat of force against Pakistan and warn that this would evoke an appropriate Chinese response. Such Chinese support has been the fundamental foundation of the Pakistan-China strategic partnership and has been reciprocated by Pakistan’s strong defence of China’s unity and territorial integrity including its maritime claims in the South China Sea.
— affirm that the security of CPEC is the common responsibility of Pakistan and China. This project serves the strategic interests of both countries. India-sponsored terrorism from Afghanistan and elsewhere to sabotage CPEC is as much an attack on Chinese as Pakistani interests. Moreover, any incentive offered to India to join CPEC should be made jointly by Pakistan and China and in no way compromise Pakistan’s position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
— provide Pakistan, on concessional terms, weapons systems and defence capabilities required to neutralise the advanced weapons systems and technologies being acquired by India from the US or other sources. If Pakistan capitulates to India’s hegemonic designs, New Delhi’s military capabilities will be increasingly deployed against China rather than, as at present, against Pakistan.
— take conscious measures to promote large Chinese investment in Pakistan including the targeted relocation of manufacturing that is no longer competitive in China.
https://www.ft.com/content/8dbce0a0-3713-11e8-8b98-2f31af407cc8
Pakistan is focusing instead on the rollout of the next batch of the JF-17, the fighter jet it is developing with China, and which is catching up with the F-16 in terms of capabilities.
One former Pakistani minister recalls telling colleagues the US decision confirmed his worst fears. “We have learnt over time that the Americans are terrible when it comes to honouring their promises,” he says. “This was bound to end up in divorce.”
Pakistan’s response encapsulated what had been a slow but steady shift in military procurement away from American-made weapons towards Chinese ones, or those made domestically with Chinese support.
Since 2010, US weapons exports to Pakistan have plummeted from $1bn to just $21m last year, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. During the same period, those from China have also fallen, but much more slowly, from $747m to $514m, making China the biggest weapons exporter to its southern neighbour.
The shift coincided with Islamabad’s growing suspicion about the closeness between the US and India, but was accelerated by the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil in 2011, which badly damaged relations with the US.
This year, relations deteriorated again when President Donald Trump suspended $2bn of military aid to Pakistan, accusing it of showing “nothing but lies and deceit” in its promises to crack down on the Taliban and affiliated groups. The problem for Mr Trump is that he needs support from Pakistan as he recommits to the war in Afghanistan, and his officials are finding that Islamabad is less responsive than usual to the US message.
Harrison Akins, a research fellow at the Howard H Baker Jr Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee, says: “The Trump administration’s decision to pursue sanctions against Pakistan, alongside Trump’s fiery rhetoric . . . can only push Pakistan further into the arms of Beijing — especially with Pakistan’s shift from US military supplies to Chinese military supplies.
“In the short term, this will make the US mission in Afghanistan more difficult and costly.”
For the US, there could be longer-term consequences that stretch well beyond its complicated relationship with Pakistan. Sales of weapons systems, often backed by preferential financial terms, have become central to the way the US has managed its vast network of military alliances and partnerships — in effect, a form of patronage.
But many of those countries are now advertising their ability to buy some of that hardware from other governments. Key allies such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey have signed arms agreements with Russia. From the Philippines and Thailand in east Asia, to large parts of Africa, world leaders are also increasingly looking to China to provide the kinds of weapons they always used to buy from the US. Between 2011 and 2015, China exported 88 per cent more in weapon sales than during the previous five years, according to Sipri.
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For Pakistan’s defence planners, the collaboration with China on defence technology is not only about equipping their own armed services. They are also hoping they can become a significant arms exporter and, in doing so, help to boost the country’s low foreign currency reserves.
Pakistani officials say that between 2014 and 2016 the country exported about $63m of weapons, but last year they announced an intention to increase that to $1bn a year. To do that, they say, they will focus on selling aircraft such as the JF-17, jointly made with the Chinese, to countries such as Egypt, Turkey and Nigeria. Farooq Hameed Khan, a commentator on security affairs, says: “Pakistan’s close collaboration with China has helped us build our quality of weapons. Gone are the days when Pakistan only produced small arms.”
by Kyle Mizokami
Pakistan began the process of accumulating the necessary fuel for nuclear weapons, enriched uranium and plutonium. The country was particularly helped by one A. Q. Khan, a metallurgist working in the West who returned to his home country in 1975 with centrifuge designs and business contacts necessary to begin the enrichment process. Pakistan’s program was assisted by European countries and a clandestine equipment-acquisition program designed to do an end run on nonproliferation efforts. Outside countries eventually dropped out as the true purpose of the program became clear, but the clandestine effort continued.
Sandwiched between Iran, China, India and Afghanistan, Pakistan lives in a complicated neighborhood with a variety of security issues. One of the nine known states known to have nuclear weapons, Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and doctrine are continually evolving to match perceived threats. A nuclear power for decades, Pakistan is now attempting to construct a nuclear triad of its own, making its nuclear arsenal resilient and capable of devastating retaliatory strikes.
Pakistan’s nuclear program goes back to the 1950s, during the early days of its rivalry with India. President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto famously said in 1965, “If India builds the bomb, we will eat grass or leaves, even go hungry, but we will get one of our own.”
The program became a higher priority after the country’s 1971 defeat at the hands of India, which caused East Pakistan to break away and become Bangladesh. Experts believe the humiliating loss of territory, much more than reports that India was pursuing nuclear weapons, accelerated the Pakistani nuclear program. India tested its first bomb, codenamed “Smiling Buddha,” in May 1974, putting the subcontinent on the road to nuclearization.
Pakistan began the process of accumulating the necessary fuel for nuclear weapons, enriched uranium and plutonium. The country was particularly helped by one A. Q. Khan, a metallurgist working in the West who returned to his home country in 1975 with centrifuge designs and business contacts necessary to begin the enrichment process. Pakistan’s program was assisted by European countries and a clandestine equipment-acquisition program designed to do an end run on nonproliferation efforts. Outside countries eventually dropped out as the true purpose of the program became clear, but the clandestine effort continued.
Exactly when Pakistan had completed its first nuclear device is murky. Former president Benazir Bhutto, Zulfikar Bhutto’s daughter, claimed that her father told her the first device was ready by 1977. A member of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission said design of the bomb was completed in 1978 and the bomb was “cold tested”—stopping short of an actual explosion—in 1983.
Benazir Bhutto later claimed that Pakistan’s bombs were stored disassembled until 1998, when India tested six bombs in a span of three days. Nearly three weeks later, Pakistan conducted a similar rapid-fire testing schedule, setting off five bombs in a single day and a sixth bomb three days later. The first device, estimated at twenty-five to thirty kilotons, may have been a boosted uranium device. The second was estimated at twelve kilotons, and the next three as sub-kiloton devices.
"Pakistan must shoulder the responsibility of maintaining the vital strategic balance in the conventional and nuclear equation with India as the particular determinant of the state of strategic stability in South Asia," retired general Kidwai said in his opening remarks.
In his keynote, the former general spoke in great depth about the strategic positions of both India and Pakistan in the event of further escalation between the two hostile neighbours.
"If Pakistan were to allow imbalances to be introduced in this strategic equation, South Asia would list more serious strategic instability," he said.
"This, in turn, would lead to catastrophic consequences in view of India's historically persistent and insatiable drive for regional domination, especially given India's current irrational, unstable and belligerent internal and external policies," he added.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to illegally annex Kashmir, adopt a discriminatory citizenship law, and back a plan to build a temple on the site of the demolished Babri mosque has fanned concerns that he was marginalising the Muslim minority in the country.
Coupled with the decisions taken above, the Indian military chief has also given a slew of irresponsible statements to the media over the past few months regarding Indian plans to target Azad Kashmir, leading to increased tensions between nuclear-armed Islamabad and New Delhi.
"While developing operational plans, the Indian planners may deliberately prefer to skirt around Pakistan's nuclear capability and nuclear thresholds," Kidwai said. "Officials in India, I hope, don't take Pakistan's nuclear capability as a bluff," he added.
Speaking on the escalation of tensions between the two countries, Lt Gen (r) Kidwai said: "It is difficult to predict any kind of escalation management because the two sides do not have any indirect channels, track 2 or track 1 channel, and there's a complete cut off between the two sides as was quite evident in the event of February 29 last year."
Indian fighter jets had attacked Pakistan in February last year but Pakistan had successfully repulsed the attack, downing an Indian jet and capturing the pilot, who was later released as a goodwill gesture by PM Imran.
"We will lurch from one crisis to the other until a third party intervenes as it did in the crisis last year. It's a very unhappy situation," Kidwai said during his address.
"Pakistan's policy in a limited conflict is quid pro quo plus, which amplifies very clearly that we will not take any act of aggression lying down. If that kind of situation reemerges in any future conflict, I don't see any reason why Pakistan will change that policy.
"It's precisely these nuclear weapons which have deterred India from expanding operations beyond a single unsuccessful airstrike," he further stated. "The Indian military has drawn some very wrong conclusions despite whatever they tried at Balakot.
"The Indian media has misled its strategic planners in making it appear as if India was able to come out of this conflict successfully through spinning false stories about the episode," he added.
Pakistan’s military test-fired a home-grown Babur cruise missile on Tuesday that has a range of more than 900 kilometers (560 miles), twice the distance of an earlier missile of the same model, a statement said.
The missile’s extended range further enhances nuclear-armed Pakistan’s military capability.
Pakistan and neighbor India, which also has a nuclear arsenal, have a volatile relationship, having fought three wars against each other. The military buildup of both countries is closely watched by a nervous international community as India and Pakistan have come dangerously close to a fourth war at least twice over the last two decades.
The missile, dubbed the Babur Cruise Missile 1B, is domestically developed, said the military statement. An earlier version had the limited capacity to travel just 450 kilometers (280 miles).
https://idrw.org/pakistan-navy-commodore-r-rules-out-development-of-nuclear-submarines-to-compete-with-indian-navy/
Ex-Commodore Sajid Mahmood Shahzad says Pakistan Navy has Babur cruise missiles that can be launched from Pakistani diesel-electric submarines as a deterrent.
@PakDefTeam
The LABGENE (Laboratório de Geração de Energia Nucleoelétrica) is the Brazilian Navy’s full-scale, land-based prototype for nuclear propulsion, situated at the Navy Technological Centre in São Paulo (CTMSP) and the Aramar facility in Iperó. As part of the Navy Nuclear Program (PNM), LABGENE replicates the nuclear plant of the future nuclear submarine, Álvaro Alberto, comprising primary reactor systems, steam generators, turbogenerators, and a dynamometric brake that simulates the actual submarine shaft resistance.
In collaboration with Nuclep, the Navy Directorate for Nuclear and Technological Development (DDNM), and CTMSP, LABGENE assembles, tests, and validates key reactor components, such as heat exchangers, accumulator vessels, containment tanks, and control instrumentation.
Beyond submarine propulsion, LABGENE stimulates broader industrial and scientific advancement in areas like uranium fuel cycle mastery and civilian nuclear R&D Now in advanced stages of assembly and equipment delivery, it's a cornerstone of Brazil’s strategic goal to commission its first nuclear-powered submarine by the early 2030s.
Under the recent Brazil–Pakistan defense cooperation MoU signed at LAAD‑2025 in Rio de Janeiro, both nations have opened a channel to deepen technological and industrial collaboration, potentially extending across their naval nuclear ambitions. If both countries elect to extend their MoU into naval nuclear cooperation, they could share best practices on reactor safety, low-enriched uranium fuel cycles, and crew training methodologies. Brazil’s lab‑scale facilities and training modules—already designed for the Álvaro Alberto submarine—could complement Pakistan’s hands‑on experience with propulsion systems, accelerating Pakistan’s path toward its own nuclear‑powered submarine. Technical exchanges might cover reactor instrumentation, fuel pellet manufacturing, land‑based reactor testing, and even joint R&D. Operational collaboration of this kind could also enhance nonproliferation assurances: Brazil’s use of low‑enriched uranium (LEU) under IAEA safeguards and Pakistan’s adherence to peaceful propulsion goals would help ensure transparent development and bolster legitimacy in the naval nuclear domain.
Model of SSN Alvaro Alberto
https://x.com/PakDefTeam/status/1940818576270614789
https://www.eurasiantimes.com/n-india-struggles-to-induct-its-aip-sub/
The state of the Indian Navy’s submarines is as dismal as that of the Indian Air Force’s fighter squadrons. It has failed to induct a single Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) equipped submarine so far, while the Pakistan Navy is swiftly advancing towards its goal of augmenting its AIP-equipped submarine fleet to 11.
With the indigenously developed AIP system still not operational, the Indian Navy is likely to scrap the project to build three more French-origin Scorpene submarines and throw its weight behind the construction of AIP-equipped diesel-electric stealth submarines, built in collaboration with German firm Thyssenkrupp (TKMS).
Indian media has quoted government sources indicating that the Navy may decide to stop pursuing additional Scorpene submarines and will go full throttle for the construction of the six German-origin diesel-electric stealth submarines at Mazagon Docks Ltd.
The new Scorpene submarines were to be bigger, with nearly double the endurance of the present batch. The cost negotiations for the three more Scorpenes were completed in the last financial year. But it is still awaiting the nod from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).
The CCS is considering the prudence of ordering three more Scorpenes, when the German submarines are “a generation ahead” of them. The CCS will also be assessing if the MDL can manage two complex submarine-building projects at the same time, according to the media report.
AIP-powered conventional diesel-electric submarines (SSKs) are midway between nuclear-powered boats and non-AIP SSKs. It allows an SSK to remain submerged for 10 to 14 days without needing to surface to charge its batteries, which might get it detected.
Other SSKs can stay underwater for roughly 48 hours. The fuel-cell-based AIP is unique, as it generates its hydrogen requirement on board.
An AIP enhances a submarine’s underwater endurance between battery charges by three to four times, thus reducing its vulnerability to detection.
The Indian Navy presently has 17 conventional submarines. Apart from the six Scorpene submarines inducted recently, the rest are over 30 years old and are fast approaching their decommissioning date.
The plans were to retrofit these six Scorpene submarines with indigenously developed AIP technology. As per the “jumboisation” plans, the operational submarine would be cut in half and a new AIP section would be inserted, increasing its length and weight. French shipbuilder Naval Group was to assist in the complex procedure.
After this, the technology will undergo further testing before being fitted into the remaining Scorpene-class submarines. Experts have pointed out that upgrading a weapons platform with new technology will reduce operational readiness, as the repairs will take at least a year.
INS Kalvari, which started its major refit this year, will not be getting its AIP upgrade as the system is still under development by the Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The fuel cell-based AIP system, developed by DRDO’s Naval Materials Research Lab with L&T as the prime industry partner, is still not operationally available. The Navy is hopeful that the technology will be ready by the time the second Scorpene (INS Khanderi) comes for her scheduled normal maintenance refit in mid-2026.
The AIP program was sanctioned by the government in 2014 with a budget of INR 270 crore and was scheduled to be completed by June 2017. The project is already eight years behind schedule.
The Indian Navy doesn’t operate a single AIP-equipped submarine yet. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Navy’s all three French Agosta-90B (PNS Khalid, Saad, and Hamza) are powered by AIPs.
Christopher Clary
@clary_co
"Pakistan is trying to build its third leg of the nuclear triad by equipping its Agosta-90B boats with 450-km range Babur-3 cruise missiles. The Hangor-class boats will certainly have the Babur-3 missiles," an officer told Times of India.
https://x.com/clary_co/status/1985534168349163668
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Rajat Pandit
@rajatpTOI
India’s major naval combat edge over Pakistan will begin to somewhat erode from next year onwards when the latter begins inducting eight advanced Hangor-class diesel-electric submarines from China.
https://x.com/rajatpTOI/status/1985530561495253379
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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-will-have-to-contend-with-new-pakistan-submarines-from-next-year/articleshow/125072697.cms
India’s major naval combat edge over Pakistan will begin to somewhat erode from next year onwards when the latter begins inducting eight advanced Hangor-class diesel-electric submarines from China. India’s long-pending conventional submarine-building plan, in sharp contrast, is yet to even kick off.
Pakistan Navy chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf has confirmed in interviews to Chinese state media that the first Hangor-class submarine will enter active service next year. All eight boats, four each being built in China and Pakistan, under the estimated $5 billion deal, will be delivered by 2028. They will boost Pakistan’s ability to patrol the north Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, he said.
The Hangor or Type 039A Yuan-class submarines, in addition t ..
Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/125072697.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
Does Pakistan pose a bigger threat to India after Babur-III ...
Pakistan is integrating its nuclear-capable Babur-3 sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM) onto its new diesel-electric Hangor-class submarines to establish a submarine-based second-strike capability. These AIP (air-independent propulsion) equipped submarines are designed to remain submerged for longer periods, making the Babur-3 a more survivable nuclear deterrent. While the Hangor-class submarines are being built, the Babur-3 is expected to be integrated into the fleet once they are operational.
Key points on Pakistan's AIP subs and Babur-3
Nuclear triad: The integration of the Babur-3 missile on the Hangor submarines is seen as a key step to complete Pakistan's nuclear triad (land, air, and sea) and provide a credible second-strike capability.
Hangor-class submarines: These are modern, diesel-electric submarines with AIP systems, based on China's Type 039B (Yuan) class. The AIP allows them to stay submerged for longer, enhancing stealth and survivability.
Babur-3 missile: The Babur-3 is a subsonic cruise missile with a range of about 450–700 km and features terrain-hugging and sea-skimming capabilities. Pakistan successfully tested it from a submerged platform in 2017.
Integration status: The Hangor-class submarines are being built, with the first having been launched in 2024 and subsequent ones following. The Babur-3 missile is expected to be integrated into these submarines, though official confirmation of specific weapon system armaments is limited.
Strategic significance: The development adds a significant sea-based deterrent to Pakistan's naval capabilities, complicating regional naval power dynamics and providing a standoff strike option.