I have talked about tactical nuclear weapons in posts about the situation in Ukraine and Russian threats. Unlike the huge megaton nuclear weapons meant to annihilate cities, tactical nuclear weapons are intended for use on battlefields against tactical targets. There are many different designs for tactical nuclear weapons from warheads on short range missiles to mortar rounds fired from special guns. Their yields are in the hundreds of tons to thousands of tons of TNT equivalent. The U.S. has developed such tactical weapons and recently sent a batch of tactical nuclear bombs to airbases in Germany to counter the Russians. Now, another country is talking about tactical nuclear weapons.
It has been known for some time that Pakistan has nuclear weapons. They were developed to counter the nuclear arsenal of India. Pakistan has never publicly discussed its nuclear arsenal until now. At a press briefing in Washington, D.C. last Monday, the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan made an announcement that Pakistan has developed low-yield tactical nuclear bombs for use in case of a "sudden attack" by India. Tomorrow, the Pakistan Prime Minister is going to meet with President Obama at the White House. The Pakistani nuclear arsenal and policy is expected to be one of the topics for discussion and the announcement by the Foreign Secretary is thought to related to the impending meeting.
Independent analysts have assumed that Pakistan was working on such tactical low-yield weapons as long as they have been working on the type of missiles that could be used to deliver such weapons. In 2011, Pakistan tested the nuclear capable Nasr missile with a forty mile range. Some analysts believe that Pakistan is also working on nuclear artillery shells. In fact, Pakistan may have greater numbers of such weapons with greater accuracy than any possessed by India. U.S. military experts think that Pakistan may have had help in the development of tactical nuclear weapons by China, a long time enemy of India.
One of the big concerns about the existence of such weapons in Pakistan is the fact that in order to be useful, they will need to be widely distributed so that they can be useful anywhere along the more than four thousand mile border between Pakistan and India. It will be difficult if not impossible for proper command and control nuclear procedures to be applied to tactical nuclear weapons spread over such a wide area. With the instability in Pakistan, the possibility of such weapons falling into the hands of terrorists and fanatics cannot be easily dismissed.
Unfortunately, neither Pakistan or India are signatories of major non-nuclear proliferation treaties. This makes it difficult for the international community to discourage the buildup of the Pakistani nuclear arsenal. It has been suggested that the U.S. may offer Pakistan membership in the Nuclear Supplier's club which would grant Pakistan access to nuclear research and technology in return for curbing its production of weapons grade nuclear materials and short range missiles.
The military in Pakistan is a powerful institution with the ability to apply serious political pressure to the civilian government. They will most probably oppose any such deal if it is offered while the Pakistan Prime Minister is in Washington, D.C. this week. The recent statements about Pakistan's nuclear arsenal by the Foreign Secretary may have been for the purpose of reassuring the Pakistani people that Pakistan will not "sell out" to Western attempts to curb its nuclear program. It could also serve as a warning to India about what will happen if Pakistan is attacked. A big danger of tactical nuclear weapons is that they are more easy to use and more easy to justify than the big city killers. The tensions between Pakistan and India are a threat to the whole world and the danger of the use of nuclear weapons in that area is rising.
Nasr missile being tested:
