India sounds out US to test new 'boutique bomb'
A report says the country has developed a mini-nuke for use on the battlefield
Friday, April 23, 2004
Maseeh Rahman in New Delhi
Almost six years after India exploded a series of nuclear bombs under the Rajasthan desert, its defence scientists are said to have successfully developed "mini-nukes" capable of use on the battlefield.
Quoting New Delhi-based diplomatic sources, a German newspaper said yesterday that India had sounded out Washington about testing state-of-the-art, low -yield nuclear bombs.
If India's possession of so-called mini-nukes is confirmed, it will radically alter the military equation with nuclear rival Pakistan.
News of the battlefield weapons comes just a day after New Delhi agreed to Pakistan's proposal for talks involving nuclear experts aimed at restoring confidence in their relationship. The talks are scheduled for May 25 and 26.
India stunned the world in May 1998 by conducting five underground nuclear tests at Pokharan, close to the Pakistani border.
New Delhi claimed the tests included a 43 kilotonne thermo-nuclear device, a 12 kilotonne bomb, and three miniature bombs of less than one kilotonne. Mini -nukes would pack a blast of less than one kilotonne. India's tests were followed by six underground tests by Pakistan.
Both countries began developing a nuclear arsenal after the tests. Experts estimate India today has about 55 to 110 bombs, while Pakistan has up to 48.
Both have also continued to develop short- and long-range missiles capable of targeting each other's military installations and population centres.
Although the manufacture, maintenance and command and control of mini-nukes, sometimes known as "boutique bombs", is extremely complex, India is said to possess the research and development capability to make such weapons.
Anti-nuclear campaigners see any introduction of mini-nukes as potentially "a very dangerous development that lowers the threshold for nuclear war".
"Mini-nukes don't make sense as they don't assure deterrence between two nuclear rivals," said Achin Vanaik, co-author of South Asia on a Short Fuse.
"They are dangerous because these are 'usable' nuclear weapons, and the moment one side uses it the other side will feel justified in using whatever bombs it has in its nuclear arsenal."
New Delhi may be encouraged to test the mini-nukes following the decision by US President George W. Bush last year to develop such bombs, lifting a 1993 ban in the United States against developing low-yield atomic weapons.
But Washington, which under President Bush has quietly dropped American opposition to India's development of nuclear weapons, has yet to respond to New Delhi's overtures regarding testing of the mini-nukes, the Berliner Zeitung said.
India reportedly wants to test the new weapon off its eastern seaboard, possibly on an uninhabited island in the Bay of Bengal.[/]
In recent military stand-offs, Pakistani generals have openly talked of using nuclear weapons in the event of India's armed forces making deep incursions into Pakistan.
According to one theory, Islamabad would escape international condemnation if it were to drop a regular nuclear bomb from an aircraft - not on an Indian population centre but on a large invading force within its own territory.
Pakistan is not known to have the capability to produce a mini-nuke, and experts say it would take it at least 10 years to develop a battlefield bomb.
Link
http://asia.scmp.com/asianews/ZZZ5NFQEXRD.html
A report says the country has developed a mini-nuke for use on the battlefield
Friday, April 23, 2004
Maseeh Rahman in New Delhi
Almost six years after India exploded a series of nuclear bombs under the Rajasthan desert, its defence scientists are said to have successfully developed "mini-nukes" capable of use on the battlefield.
Quoting New Delhi-based diplomatic sources, a German newspaper said yesterday that India had sounded out Washington about testing state-of-the-art, low -yield nuclear bombs.
If India's possession of so-called mini-nukes is confirmed, it will radically alter the military equation with nuclear rival Pakistan.
News of the battlefield weapons comes just a day after New Delhi agreed to Pakistan's proposal for talks involving nuclear experts aimed at restoring confidence in their relationship. The talks are scheduled for May 25 and 26.
India stunned the world in May 1998 by conducting five underground nuclear tests at Pokharan, close to the Pakistani border.
New Delhi claimed the tests included a 43 kilotonne thermo-nuclear device, a 12 kilotonne bomb, and three miniature bombs of less than one kilotonne. Mini -nukes would pack a blast of less than one kilotonne. India's tests were followed by six underground tests by Pakistan.
Both countries began developing a nuclear arsenal after the tests. Experts estimate India today has about 55 to 110 bombs, while Pakistan has up to 48.
Both have also continued to develop short- and long-range missiles capable of targeting each other's military installations and population centres.
Although the manufacture, maintenance and command and control of mini-nukes, sometimes known as "boutique bombs", is extremely complex, India is said to possess the research and development capability to make such weapons.
Anti-nuclear campaigners see any introduction of mini-nukes as potentially "a very dangerous development that lowers the threshold for nuclear war".
"Mini-nukes don't make sense as they don't assure deterrence between two nuclear rivals," said Achin Vanaik, co-author of South Asia on a Short Fuse.
"They are dangerous because these are 'usable' nuclear weapons, and the moment one side uses it the other side will feel justified in using whatever bombs it has in its nuclear arsenal."
New Delhi may be encouraged to test the mini-nukes following the decision by US President George W. Bush last year to develop such bombs, lifting a 1993 ban in the United States against developing low-yield atomic weapons.
But Washington, which under President Bush has quietly dropped American opposition to India's development of nuclear weapons, has yet to respond to New Delhi's overtures regarding testing of the mini-nukes, the Berliner Zeitung said.
India reportedly wants to test the new weapon off its eastern seaboard, possibly on an uninhabited island in the Bay of Bengal.[/]
In recent military stand-offs, Pakistani generals have openly talked of using nuclear weapons in the event of India's armed forces making deep incursions into Pakistan.
According to one theory, Islamabad would escape international condemnation if it were to drop a regular nuclear bomb from an aircraft - not on an Indian population centre but on a large invading force within its own territory.
Pakistan is not known to have the capability to produce a mini-nuke, and experts say it would take it at least 10 years to develop a battlefield bomb.
Link
http://asia.scmp.com/asianews/ZZZ5NFQEXRD.html