The New Chinese Weapon System and Its Dangerous Cascading Effect as Captured in a View from India

[Sukla Sen]

Of course, the whole prescription is insane.

But, then, insanity breeds insanity.

One has to take note also of the following.

 

I. A (nuclear-capable hypersonic) missile that can reach the US undetected via the South Pole makes hardly any sense except in the context of a contemplated "first-strike".

II. I still recall Mao - the Chinese supremo then, mocking and rubbishing nuclear weapons as "paper tiger".

That didn't stop him from mobilising every whatever resource to develop its own capability.

He was quite successful in accomplishing that goal.

Both these points are relevant in the context of the Chinese commitment on NFU (No First Use).

<<First, India will have to augment its nuclear stockpile considerably and also the means of delivering them. Procurement of MIRV capable AGNI-V ICBMs and submarine launched SLBMS need to be increased immediately.Western intelligence community are of the opinion that China has many more nuclear warheads than the commonly quoted figure of 350 and recently commercial satellite images obtained by researchers at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, Calif., show China has begun construction of more than 100 new silos for ICBMs. Ergo, India needs to significantly increase its stockpile of nuclear weapons so that it dwarfs the collective nuclear stockpile of both China and Pakistan. [Emphasis added. What an insane idea!] Such strike capability needs to be backed up by advanced real-time imagery and data fusion powered by Edge Computing that will allow precision strike of even the adversary’s road mobile and rail mobile missiles. The Indian government must also invest in underwater vehicles and long-range cruise missiles that use nuclear energy as their primary source of propulsion.

Second, India needs to drastically increase the number of military satellites that it operates in LEO. At the same time leverage existing real time intelligence sharing agreements that it has with friendly countries to track any Chinese space plane that is deorbiting.

Third, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s has already developed the reusable launch vehicle prototype RLV-TD. A variant of this launch vehicle needs to be developed that can serve as a space plane. This space plane can be boosted into space by a GSLV launch vehicle. Such a space plane can be used not just to test reconnaissance and spy sensors but also to deliver weapons from space.

Just like the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, India too will have to maintain the equilibrium through deterrence. The world is once again entering a new phase of nuclear and related arms race that is both multifaceted and multilateral. China is taking full advantage of the fact that the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty is no longer in force. Therefore, to prevent China from pursuing unacceptable actions or to force it into desired behavior, India’s nuclear deterrence capability needs to be credible.>>

(Excerpted from: <https://www.financialexpress.com/defence/chinas-fractional-orbital-bombardment-system-impact-on-indias-nuclear-deterrence-posture/2356471/lite/>.)