India modernising nuclear arsenal to target China from southern bases: US experts
Jul 13, 2017, 17:49 IST
Two top American nuclear experts have said that India continues to modernise its atomic arsenal keeping China as a target.
An article titled ‘Indian nuclear forces 2017,’ written by experts Hans M Kristensen and Robert S Norris was published in the July-August issue of the digital journal After Midnight, claiming that India is presently busy developing a missile which can target the entire China region from its bases located in South India.
As per the article, India has produced around 600 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium, which is sufficient for 150-200 nuclear warheads. However, out of these, only 120-130 weapons have actually been produced.
As per their estimates, New Delhi is operating seven nuclear-capable systems, including two aircraft, four land-based ballistic missiles, and one sea-based ballistic missile.
"At least four more systems are in development. The development program is in a dynamic phase, with long-range land- and sea-based missiles emerging for possible deployment within the next decade," the article said.
As per Kristensen and Norris, the two-stage, solid-fuel, rail-mobile Agni-2, the improvement variant of Agni-1, which can deliver a nuclear or conventional warhead more than 2,000 kilometres is probably targeted on western, central, and southern regions of China.
(Image source WikiMedia)
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An article titled ‘Indian nuclear forces 2017,’ written by experts Hans M Kristensen and Robert S Norris was published in the July-August issue of the digital journal After Midnight, claiming that India is presently busy developing a missile which can target the entire China region from its bases located in South India.
As per the article, India has produced around 600 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium, which is sufficient for 150-200 nuclear warheads. However, out of these, only 120-130 weapons have actually been produced.
As per their estimates, New Delhi is operating seven nuclear-capable systems, including two aircraft, four land-based ballistic missiles, and one sea-based ballistic missile.
"At least four more systems are in development. The development program is in a dynamic phase, with long-range land- and sea-based missiles emerging for possible deployment within the next decade," the article said.
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(Image source WikiMedia)