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It is not exactly known when Pakistan began developing nuclear weapons but it is believed to have started in the 1970s and apparently conducted its first test on 28 May,1998 when it detonated 5 separate devices in a remote mountain desert area in its Balochistan province. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was the founder of Pakistan's Nuclear Program, initially as Minister for Fuel, Power and Natural Resources, and later as President and Prime Minister. Pakistan's nuclear program was launched in earnest shortly after the loss of East Pakistan in the 1971 war with India, when Bhutto initiated a program to develop nuclear weapons with a meeting of physicists and engineers at Multan in January 1972. In 1974 India successfully tested a nuclear "device". Momentum for the program was provided by this Indian nuclear test operation, called the Smiling Buddha. Bhutto reacted strongly to this test and said Pakistan must develop its own "nuclear capability". Regarding the program he said;

We will defend our country using any means necessary and build a nuclear capability second to none. We will eat grass for 1000 years, if we have to, but we will get there.

Weapons development takes place at Kahuta and Joharabad, where weapons grade plutonium is made; the latter allegedly with the assistance of Chinese technology. Estimates usually put Pakistan's nuclear deterrent at around 40 HEU (highly enriched uranium) warheads.

Nuclear policy

Pakistan acceded to the Geneva Protocol on April 15, 1960, the Biological Weapons Convention in 1974 and the Chemical Weapons Convention on October 28, 1997.In 1999 Pakistan signed the Lahore Accords, with India, agreeing a bilateral moratorium on nuclear testing. However, Pakistan, like India and Israel is not a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and, consequently, not bound by any of its provisions.

Nuclear Infrastructure

Pakistan's nuclear program is based primarily on highly enriched uranium (HEU), which is produced at the A. Q. Khan research laboratory at Kahuta, a gas centrifuge uranium enrichment facility. The Kahuta facility has been in use since the early 1980s. By the early 1990s, Kahuta had an estimated 3,000 centrifuges in operation, and Pakistan continued its pursuit of expanded uranium enrichment capabilities.

In the 1990s Pakistan began to pursue plutonium production capabilities. With Chinese assistance, Pakistan built the 40 MWt (megawatt thermal) Khusab research reactor at Joharabad, and in April 1998, Pakistan announced that the reactor was operational. According to public statements made by US officials, this unsafeguarded heavy water reactor can produce up to 8 to 10 kilograms of plutonium per year. According the Wikipedia's plutonium article this is sufficient for one nuclear weapon. The reactor could also produce tritium if it were loaded with lithium-6 although this is unnecessary for weapons purposes because modern nuclear weapon designs use 6Li directly. According to J. Cirincione of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Khusab's plutonium production capacity could allow Pakistan to develop lighter nuclear warheads that would be easier to deliver with a ballistic missile.

Plutonium separation reportedly takes place at the New Labs reprocessing plant next to Pakistan's Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (Pinstech) in Rawalpindi and at the larger Chasma nuclear power plant, neither of which are subject to IAEA inspection.

Nuclear Arsenal

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) estimates that Pakistan has built 24-48 HEU-based nuclear warheads. Which is enough for almost 30-55 nuclear weapons. Pakistan's nuclear warheads are based on an implosion design that uses a solid core of highly enriched uranium and requires an estimated 15-20 kg of material per warhead. The NRDC also thinks that Pakistan has also produced a small but unknown quantity of weapons grade plutonium, which is sufficient for an estimated 3-5 nuclear weapons. Pakistan also claims that the fissile cores are stored seprately from the other non-nuclear explosive packages, which Islamabad says can be put together rather quickly.

Foreign Assistance

In the past, People's Republic of China played a major role in the development of Pakistan's nuclear infrastructure, especially when increasingly stringent export controls in western countries made it difficult for Pakistan to acquire materials and technology elsewhere. According to a 2001 Department of Defense report, China has supplied Pakistan with nuclear materials and expertise and has provided critical assistance in the construction of Pakistan's nuclear facilities.

Pakistan's Nuclear Doctrine

Pakistan's motive for pursuing a nuclear weapons program is to counter the threat posed by its principal rival, India.

Pakistan has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) or the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). According to the Defense Department report cited above, "Pakistan remains steadfast in its refusal to sign the NPT, stating that it would do so only after India joined the Treaty. Consequently, not all of Pakistan's nuclear facilities are under IAEA safeguards. Pakistani officials have stated that signature of the CTBT is in Pakistan's best interest, but that Pakistan will do so only after developing a domestic consensus on the issue, and have disavowed any connection with India's decision."

Pakistan does not abide by a no-first-use doctrine, as evidenced by President Pervez Musharraf's statements in May, 2002. Musharraf said that Pakistan did not want a conflict with India but that if it came to war between the nuclear-armed rivals, he would "respond with full might." These statements were interpreted to mean that if pressed by an overwhelming conventional attack from India, Pakistan might use its nuclear weapons.

Aside from these public declarations, Pakistan has not issued an official nuclear doctrine. The organization authorized to make decisions about Pakistan's nuclear posturing is the National Command Authority (NCA) established in Februrary 2000. The NCA is composed of two committees that advise President Musharraf on the development and employment of nuclear weapons; it is also responsible for wartime command and control. In 2001, Pakistan further consolidated its nuclear infrastructure by placing the Khan Research Laboratories and the Pakistan Atomic Research Corporation under the control on of one Nuclear Defense Complex.

Use of nuclear weapons
Pakistan's nuclear weapons are aimed solely at India. In case that deterrence fails, they will be used if:
  • India attacks Pakistan and conquers a large part of its territory (space threshold).
  • India destroys a large part either of its land or air forces (military threshold).
  • India proceeds to the economic strangling of Pakistan (economic strangling).
  • India pushes Pakistan into political destabilization or creates a large-scale internal subversion in Pakistan (domestic destabilization).

Pakistan Special Weapons Agencies

National Security Council

Ministry of Defence Production

Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC)

  • Directorate of Technical Development
  • Directorate of Technical Equipment
  • Directorate of Technical Procurement
  • Science and Engineering Services Directorate
  • Institute of Nuclear Power, Islamabad

Pakistan Institute of Science & Technology (PINSTECH)

Khushab Reactor, Khushab, Punjab National Development Complex/Centre

Multan Heavy Water Production Facility, Multan Division, Punjab

Chasma Nuclear Power Plant I (CHASNUPP-1), Chasma

Chasma Nuclear Power Plant II (CHASNUPP-2), Chasma

Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP), Karachi

Space and Upper Atmospheric Research Commission (SUPARCO)

  • Aerospace Institute, Islamabad
  • Computer Center, Karachi
  • Control System Laboratories
  • Flight Test Range, Sonmiani Beach
  • Instrumentation Laboratories, Karachi
  • Material Research Division
  • Quality Control and Assurance Unit
  • Rocket Bodies Manufacturing Unit
  • Solid Composite Propellant Unit
  • Space and Atmospheric Research Center, Karachi
  • Static Test Unit, Karachi

    Ministry of Industries & Production

    • State Engineering Corporation (SEC)
    • Heavy Mechanical Complex Ltd. (HMC) Peoples Steel Mills Ltd, Karachi.

    Missiles

    Designation Other Name Range Payload Status Inventory
    Hatf-I/IA

    ''

    		 80-100 km 500 kg deployed 50?
    Abdali-I Hatf-II'' 180 km 500 kg deployed, under production none
    Ghaznavi-I Hatf-III 290 km 500 kg under going production ~34-80?
    Shaheen-I Hatf-IV''' 750 km 1000 kg deployed, currently under production 50
    Ghauri-I Hatf-V 1500 km 700 kg deployed, currently in production ~50
    Ghauri-II Hatf-VA 2,300 km 1000/700 kg operational, under production ? 200
    Shaheen-II Hatf-VI 2,500 km 1000 kg undergoing testing 50
    Ghauri-III Hatf-VIII 4,000 km 1000 kg under research and production
    Babur Hatf-VII 500 km 500 kg Tested, Cruise Missile

    Recent developments

    It has been recently reported by the Pakistani Press namely Jang that Pakistan has the ability to MIRV its missiles. This has been seen as possibly the greatest achievement to date. It has also been reported that Pakistan would likely MIRV its Shaheen-II missile.

    Aircraft delivery

    2 units operating the Chinese-built A-5 (No. 16 Sqn and No. 26 Sqn), an aircraft believed to be a leading candidate for the aerial delivery of nuclear weapons. The others are the Mirage IIIOs, Mirage IIIODs and Mirage IIIEs. The Pakistani Air Force currently operates some 156 Mirage aircraft. The allocation of 90 of these aircraft is not currently known. Pakistan has also recently tested its Babur cruise missile having a range of 500km. It was a ground launched version and according to Pakistan Military sources the submarine and air delivered versions are soon to follow.

    External links

    Military of Pakistan | Nuclear technology in Pakistan | Weapons of mass destruction

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction".

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