Agni 3 Payload

[trackwhack]

Thanks folkds ... more clarity

 

[trackwhack]

That still does not explain the need to keep the warheads separate. Already mated warheads atleast in a few missiles would mean retaliation in minutes and not hours.

Spot on ... I agree. 60 minutes is too long.

 

[ace009]

No the megaton devices were made to cover for the inaccuracies of the missiles of the time.

That - and to take out large missile bases with multiple missile Silos deep inside the ground. A Megaton device exploding a few meters above ground will gouge a crater the size of a few football fileds and destroy the underground Silos nearby - anything around it will be incinerated or charred beyond use.

 

[Yusuf]

That still does not explain the need to keep the warheads separate. Already mated warheads atleast in a few missiles would mean retaliation in minutes and not hours.

We don't need to retaliate in a minute. It gives us time to chose our target and destroy it completely, I mean it's population. That is the essence of deterrence. Unacceptable damage. Whereas the one who strikes first will have to spend more nukes and conventional strikes to take out our arsenal. It makes them open to our attack.

 

[Yusuf]

That - and to take out large missile bases with multiple missile Silos deep inside the ground. A Megaton device exploding a few meters above ground will gouge a crater the size of a few football fileds and destroy the underground Silos nearby - anything around it will be incinerated or charred beyond use.

Indias goal is not to destroy any underground silos as we are not going to strike first. We will only launch if we are struck. For that we don't need megaton bombs. India's retaliation will be only on population centers. We don't need megaton bombs. A 13 KT bomb took out 70,000 immediately and hundreds of thousands more subsequently.

 

[Param]

We don't need to retaliate in a minute. It gives us time to chose our target and destroy it completely, I mean it's population. That is the essence of deterrence. Unacceptable damage. Whereas the one who strikes first will have to spend more nukes and conventional strikes to take out our arsenal. It makes them open to our attack.

I can't even come out of toilet in a minute, no one expects retaliation in a minute. But 60 minutes is too long. By the time missiles are mated and ready to launch the enemy might launch a second wave of Nukes.

In the Soviet US context I think missiles on either sides were supposed to be launched even when the enemy missiles are in the air before reaching target.

 

[Yusuf]

I can't even come out of toilet in a minute, no one expects retaliation in a minute. But 60 minutes is too long. By the time missiles are mated and ready to launch the enemy might launch a second wave of Nukes.

In the Soviet US context I think missiles on either sides were supposed to be launched even when the enemy missiles are in the air before reaching target.

If the soviet or US launched at us, we would be finished. Our deterrence is not against them but Pak and China. Even if we take half a day it does not matter. What we need is maximum damage in retaliation

 

[nrj]

That still does not explain the need to keep the warheads separate. Already mated warheads atleast in a few missiles would mean retaliation in minutes and not hours.

That is where threat perception directives come in picture. As the threat levels increases, readiness codes are released for strategic forces to act accordingly. That prepares alert conditions similar to what US DEFCON is. Indian equivalents are ranging from FADE OUT to COCKED PISTOL.

Now as you've pointed out few of missiles should be in mated condition for faster response, in ROUND HOUSE defcon level 3 such preparations are undertaken. So in increased threat level, mating is initiated acting in accordance with intel coming in.

It happened in 2001.

---

Coming to second strike, let me make it clear that Indian second strike has taken into account the delay between approval & execution. And such delay is accepted looking at the immense pay-off triggered for the very critical reasons that there should be absolute fail-safe & any unattended balance check can make the state pay for its existence in case enemy outpost survives second-strike.

A sufficient time is essential for 2nd strike to be accurate & successful. And going by the definition of Indian 2nd strike, it should take time before the final launch & releasing our breaths.

 

[agentperry]

the simple answer is YOU DONT KNOW WHAT COMES NEXT.

 

[Yusuf]

The one megaton size weapon is no longer widely used. Most of the literature that focuses on one megaton weapons is dated and of limited use for assessing blast damage. It was principally in the late 1950 and 1960s when megaton weapons were in vogue in the U.S. and comprised the bulk of its strategic nuclear weapons. The trend has been to move away from weapons in the megaton range. This trend is not a consequence of nations becoming choir boys. It is because they can produce more effective destruction with weapons in the 100 Kt to 550 Kt range [greater destruction per unit of weight].

The overwhelming majority of nuclear weapons in all nuclear weapon nations are less than one megaton [China comes the closest to being an exception to this rule with roughly 73% of its weapons reportedly being 300 Kt or less, and the remaining 37 of its weapons perhaps being 3.3 megatons or greater].

For comparison, note that the Hiroshima bomb was 12.5 to 15 Kt in size. The Nagasaki bomb was approximately 21 Kt. The U.S. weapons now fall principally within the 100 Kt to 375 Kt range, the average being approximately 250 Kt. And the majority of Russia weapons are 550 Kt; the average size is roughly 400 Kt.