the flex isn't in the testing.
China Ballistic Missiles and Nuclear Arms Thread
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how trustworthy is this journalist?
India has limited number of warheads. So it will likely not target China's mobile launchers and silos. The likely targets will be population and industrial centers, which are mostly in the Eastern part of China. To reach them, Indian IRBM and ICBM have to have majority of their trajectory flying over China. Thus they are ideal for midcourse interception.
Hence my earlier comment that China can neutralize the nuclear threat from India.
Not an missile expert. So feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
Given the fact that India does not have thermonuclear weapons, India cannot realistically fit multiple warheads on a single missile. Their warheads are in the 1000 kg range, meaning that Agni missiles can only carry one warhead. Warhead miniaturization requires thermonuclear weapon development and India cannot obtain H-bombs without additional nuclear testing.
I will not say completely neutralize but it can be useful in reducing damage. India only has around 20 IRBMs capable of target Chinese cities. A 50% interception rate from the CNMD system can greatly reduce casualties and losses. Not to mention additional terminal phase interceptors.
I thought India did test a boosted fission weapon in 1998. Also, you can still theoretically miniaturize an implosion ball-shaped warhead to 500kg level, except you might then have a relatively small (but dirty, especially ground burst) yield. You can also put a layer of cobalt around such warhead to enhance radiation; thus, increasing lethality and deterrence.
1. India claimed that they have tested a boosted fission weapon. However, the yield of said weapon is only 56 kt. India claimed that the thermotical yield of their design is 200 kt. Yet keep in mind that the first Soviet boosted fission weapon has a yield of 400 kt (RDS-6). Thus, I am personally doubtful about India's claims. Regardless, boosted fission weapons are still big and heavy.
2. Mk-12 has a yield of 14 kt. A ground bursting 14 kt bomb has a 1 psi blast radius of 2.84 km. You will need dozens of bombs to destroy one single city. A single Agni-V has a payload of 1,500 kg, so you will need at least 20 missiles to even threaten larger cities such as Shanghai. In that case, India currently does not have enough missiles for threatening more than one city.
3. MIRV requires testing as well. A good RV is light and reliable. India maybe able to produce MIRVs, but the weight of the RVs will be significantly higher than their Chinese counterparts. This means that the number of warheads that one missile can carry is actually even lower.
4. Even if Cobalt bombs are used (which do not live up to the hype btw), India can only hope to contaminate one major city with all its warheads and delivery systems. This will not be enough to knock China out of the war. Not even close. Also, the British tested a cobalt bomb in 1957 and found that Co-59's neutron absorption ability was much lower than predicted, resulting in a very limited formation of Co-60 isotope in practice. So it is actually possible for one to decontaminate an area polluted by cobalt bombs.
antiterror13
Brigadier
India doesn't have a hydrogen bomb and also still far away to have the technology to miniaturize the warhead, so India will only able to put single big low yield warhead on the IRBM
I have no doubt that India have the technology for IRBM and soon ICBM, but that only one important factors of many
I think NK have better missile and miniaturise warhead than India
antiterror13
Brigadier
I add that the yield would be very limited, perhaps 50K, without hydrogen bomb, you are stuck with big low yield warheads
Please enlighten me.
Isn't it true that single warhead or MIRV missiles make no difference for midcourse interception as the warheads have not yet separated. Only at terminal phase would MIRV make interception difficult.
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