- INDIA NUCLEAR PROGRAM
- NUCLEAR – ARMED BALLISTIC MISSILES
- INDIA DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY
UNIT 12 – NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY – PART 4
INDIA NUCLEAR PROGRAM
India’s first nuclear program started in 1967. On May 18, 1974, India conducted its first nuclear weapon test. The first fusion weapon test on May 13, 1998.
India has signed and ratified two treaties, i.e., Biological Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention. India has also taken the membership of the Missile Technology Control Regime and is also a subscribing state to The Hague Code of Conduct.
BIOLOGICAL WARFARE OF INDIA
Consider the following points relating to the Biological Warfare of India.
- India is one of the ratifying members of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and it also pledged to abide by its obligations.
- India possesses the scientific and technological capability to create a biological weapon, but there is as such no plan to do so.
- In one of the speeches, the former President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam emphasized that “India will not make biological weapons, as is cruel to human beings”.
CHEMICAL WARFARE OF INDIA
Consider the following points relating to the chemical warfare of India −
- India is capable enough to produce chemical weapons, but it chooses not to do so.
- India has signed and ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), stating that it does not intend to manufacture chemical weapons.
- In 1997, India had stock of chemical weapons, i.e., about 1045 tonnes of Sulphur mustard, but by the end of 2006, India has destroyed more than 70 percent of its stocked chemical materials and also promised to destroy the remaining.
NUCLEAR-ARMED BALLISTIC MISSILES
The following table lists down the major nuclear-armed ballistic missiles of India −
Name | Type | Maximum range (km) | Status |
Prithvi-I | Short-range | 150 | Deployed |
Prithvi-II | Short-range | 250 – 350 | |
Prithvi-III | Short-range | 350 – 600 | |
Agni-I | Short to medium range | 700 – 1,250 | |
Agni-II | Medium range | 2,000 – 3,000 | |
Agni-III | Intermediate range | 3,500 – 5,000 | |
Agni-IV | Intermediate range | 4,000 | Tested successfully |
Agni-V | Intermediate to Intercontinental range | 5,000 – 8,000 | |
Agni-VI | Submarine-launched with intercontinental-range (probable MIRV) | 6,000 | Under development |
Agni-VI | Intercontinental range (probable MIRV) | 8,000 – 12,000 | Under development |
Surya | Submarine launched Intercontinental range MIRV | 10,000 | Yet to confirm |
Surya | Intercontinental-range Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) | 12,000 – 16,000 |
SEA-BASED NUCLEAR-ARMED BALLISTIC MISSILES
The following table lists down the major sea-based nuclear-armed ballistic missiles of India −
Name | Type | Maximum range (km) | Status |
Dhanush | Short-range | 350 | Inducted |
Sagarika (K-15) | SLBM | 700 | Awaiting deployment on INS Arihant |
K-4 | SLBM | 3,500 | Tested |
INDIA DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY
The responsibility of developing India’s defense technology is assigned to the DRDO, i.e., The Defence Research And Development Organization.
The Defence Research and Development Organization or DRDO was set up in 1958 and hence, it is the supreme body of researching, monitoring, regulating, and administering the India Defence Research and Development Program.
At present, DRDO is a network of more than 50 laboratories located in different cities of the country.
The DRDO specializes in the following fields −
- Aeronautical Engineering
- Electronics
- Armaments
- Engineering system
- Combat vehicles
- Missiles
- Advanced computing and simulation
- Life science
- Special materials
- Agriculture
- Training, etc.
MISSILE TECHNOLOGY
The development of missile technology in India started in the 1960s. Consider the following point relating to Missile Technology −
- The first successful testing of space-cum-missile technology was the Rohini-75, which was tested in 1967.
- The research and development program of developing indigenous missiles was called the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program’.
