MILNET Brief   The India-Pakistan Military Balance, January, 2008 "…I must report that relations between India and Pakistan remain volatile, making the risk of war between the two nuclear-armed adversaries unacceptably high." - Anthony H. Cordesman, Center for Strategic and International Studies, December 28, 2001

Conventional Forces - India    Conventional Forces - Pakistan    Nuclear Forces - India    Nuclear Forces - Pakistan

Kashmir has been the main area of contention between India and Pakistan since India seized the area in a brief battle only a year after Pakistan became a nation (Britain divided and freed India in 1947).  Ever since the two countries have maintained hundreds of thousands of troops at the "line of control".

Two wars have occurred over the disputed region during 1965 and 1971.  The last major conflict between India and Pakistan began in  May of 1999, near Kargil at the northern "line of control" of the Kashmir province and concluded with a Pakistani withdrawal due to Indian pressure assisted by the U.S in July of 1999.

More recently, Pakistani Islamic extremists attacked, during session, the Indian parliament, killing a number of Indian leaders, causing an immediate ratcheting up of tensions, with both sides moving large formations of troops and weapons to the border between the two countries.  This followed intense negotiations by the U.S. during the U.S. attack on the Taliban government in Afghanistan, hoping to keep the Pakistani and Indian situation in hand while U.S. troops remain on the ground and have been staged from Pakistan.

A so called freedom train running between India and Pakistan was attacked by terrorists using gasoline bombs killing dozens and creating a new tension between India and Pakistan. However the attacks appeared to have backfired, the two nations talking through the events at the highest levels and the armies and police cooperating in rounding up suspects.

Indian Army (1.1 million men and women)

The Indian Army was initially divided into two major commands, East and West Command.  The Eastern Command headquarters has moved from its original Lucknow location on several occasions as conflicts with Pakistan and changes in communications technology have provided lessons in geographical control for these two complete headquarters groups.

Today the Eastern Command headquarters is located in Fort William, Calcutta, with Lucknow acting as a Central Command headquarters

Western Command has also undergone physical relocation over the years, with duplicate headquarters in both Shimla and Bhatinda. After 1971, Headquarters Northern Command was established at Udhampur, taking over responsibility for Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Sihmla was later considered unsuitable for Headquarters Western Command and so was moved to Chandigarh with Punjab and Northern Rajasthan under its jurisdiction.

Command Headquarters can be likened to a Field Army or even an Army Group Headquarters with a General Officer Commanding-in-Chief presiding over matters in the rank of a (three-star) Lieutenant General. Next the line are the Corps Headquarters, which are Field Army Headquarters elsewhere.  The Indian Army's combat formations are now grouped and tailored under many such Corps Headquarters (with some forces being retained under static Area Commands).

The static Areas, Sub Areas, or Independent Sub Areas span the length and breadth of the country. These look after infrastructure (and lines of communications) assets, relieving field formations from the tedium of administering a multiplicity of support installations located in an area. Area' boundaries conform to state (or a group of states) administrative boundaries.

• HQ Commander in Chief
• Corps Headquarters
• Combat Formations
• Static Area Commands

The Principal Service Officers (PSOs) maintain classic military designations:

• The Quartermaster General
• Master General of Ordnance
• Adjutant General,
• Military Secretary
• Engineer-in-Chief
• Signal Officer-in-Chief
• Director General of Medical Services

Divisions and independent  brigade groups are designated by function, terrain of operation, or by their equipment mix.
The Army has in its Order of Battle, mountain divisions, infantry divisions, armored divisions  (in which  tank units predominate) and mechanized divisions (in which mechanized infantry units predominate).

Independent brigade groups, as the name suggests, are vested with limited capability to carry out an independent mission. Independent brigade groups or independent brigade-sized formations may be armored, mechanized, air defense (missile or gun), parachute, engineer,  field artillery, electronic warfare or even standard infantry and mountain. These form 'Corps/Army troops', that is, they are held at Corps and Army levels for balancing out missions and task forces. At these levels, one would find heavy logistic support units  in terms of supply, transport, field ordnance depots, and medical
facilities.

The major Corps of the Indian Army are:

• Corps of Signals
• Army Ordnance Corps
• Corps of EME (Equipment Maintenance and Engineering)
• Regiment of Artillery
• Corps of Engineers
• Army Medical Corps

Field Formations

An Infantry Division has about 15,500 combat troops, with 8000 support elements (artillery, engineers, etc). It consists of 3 to 5 Infantry Brigades, an Armored Regiment and an Artillery Brigade. In the HQ companies of battalions there are pioneer platoons - for engineering work (demolitions, mine clearing, etc.) and signal units. These personnel also serve as infantry men. Engineers are practically combat troops since with their bridging equipment and reconnaissance may well spearhead an advance. Signals troops are also responsible for Electronic Warfare (EW).

An Armoured Division consists of 3 to 5 armoured brigades, a mechanized brigade and an artillery brigade. It has a strength of 300 to 400 tanks and an equal number of other armoured vehicles. In terms of manpower, an armoured division is much smaller than an infantry division.

An Infantry Brigade is commanded by a Brigadier, who is assisted by a Brigade Major and Staff Officers. It consists of three Infantry Battalions and depending on the circumstances, detachments of artillery, signals and sappers are provided. If needed, supply, transport, medical, and other units are also attached.

An artillery brigade has 3 to 5 artillery regiments, with 60 to 100 artillery guns. Artillery is being standardized on the 130mm M46 Field Gun, adding 120mm mortars to mortar platoons and incorporating two 30mm AGS-17 automatic grenade launchers. Under the 2000 Field Artillery Rationalization Plan, the Army expects to procure 4000 self-propelled & towed howitzers of 155mm calibre to equip its 200 artillery regiments. This procurement program is expected to be spread over the next two decades, and filled through a combination of outright purchase and licensed manufacture.

Artillery units have very important AOP (Air Observation Posts) units, using helicopters, and vital meteorological and survey teams. These are important, since the accuracy of artillery fire depends on wind speed/direction, the humidity and an accurate survey of the firing position. Thus all Artillery Officers are science graduates - specializing in mathematics and physics. Artillery Units have SATA (Surveillance And Target Acquisition) batteries which have indigenously manufactured battlefield surveillance radar as well as artillery locating radar. This dramatically enhances the effectiveness of Indian artillery. A number of Israeli-made Remote Piloted Vehicles (RPVs) are being obtained for the targeting of the Prithvi SRBM.

A Brigade, when not part of a division and located & designed to function independently, is called an Independent Brigade. It is provided with additional supporting arms (Artillery, Engineer, Signals, etc.) and services (Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps, Electrical & Mechanical Engineers, etc.) units to operate independently for the required task.

Battalion: Commanded by a Colonel, the battalion is self-contained, hence it is the Infantry's main
fighting unit. It has a 2nd-in-Command (2-in-C) and six Company Commanders, commanding the HQ,
with four infantry companies (each with three infantry platoons) plus a Support Company with mortars,
machine guns and SAMs/ATGMs. Artillery and armoured formations have battalion equivalents called
regiments. These are organized in a similar manner - armoured regiments have four tank squadrons
while artillery regiments have between three and four artillery batteries. All of these formations are of
similar size, about one thousand men.

Field Formations

• 3 Armoured Divisions
• 4 RAPID Divisions + 18 Infantry Divisions + 10 Mountain Divisions
• 5 Independent Armoured Brigades
• 7 Independent Infantry Brigades
• 1 Artillery Division
• 1 Parachute Brigade
• 15 Independent Artillery Brigades
• 6 Air Defense Brigades + 2 Surface-to-Air Missile Groups
• 4 Engineer Brigades
• 14 Army Aviation Helicopter Units

• 63 Tank Regiments
• 7 Airborne Battalions
• 360 Infantry Battalions
• 4 Para Cdo. Battalions
• 40 Mech. Inf. Battalions
• 200 Artillery Regiments
• 35+ Air Defense Regiments
• 20 Combat Helicopter Units

Equipment: (note equipment totals are not specified for reasons of security)

Tanks:  T-55 modified to 120mm gun (ex-Soviet), T-72 with 125 mm gun (ex-Soviet), Vijayanta with 105mm gun (India-UK)

APC (Armored Personnel Carrier:  BRDM 2, BMP 1 & 2, OTR 62/64

Artillery:  75/24 Mtn, Yugo 76mm M-48, 105 mm IFG I/II, 105 mm M-56, 122 mm D-30, 130 mm M-46, 155 mm FH-77B

Self Propelled Artillery:  105 mm Abbot, 130 mm M-46 mod on Vijayanta

Mortars:  81 mm L16A1, 120 mm M-43, 120 mm Brandt AM-50, 160 mm M-160

Anti Tank Guided Missiles (ATGW):   Milan, At-3 Sagger, AT-4 Spigot, AT-5 Spandrel

Recoiless Rifles/Missile Launchers, etc.:  20 mm Oerlikon, 23 mm ZU 23-2, 23 mm ZU 23-4-SP, 30 mm 2S6SP, 40 mm L40/60, 40 mm L40/70

Surface-to-air Missiles (SAMs):  SA-6, SA-7, SA-8A/B, SA-9, SA-13, SA-16, AKASH, TRISHUL

Special Forces
Army

• Para-Commandos

• Marine Commando Force

• National Security Guards

• Special Frontier Force
• Special Security Bureau
• Special Protection Group

Indian Air Force (120,000 men and women)

Operates some 1700 aircraft
Five operational commands consisting of:

• Western Air Command
• headquarters in Delhi being the prime HQ
• responsible for air operations from Kashmir southwards to Rajasthan
• and including the capital and the Punjab,
• an Operations Group dedicated for Jammu & Kashmir including Ladakh.
• Central Air Command
• based at Allahabad,
• encompasses most of the Indo-Gangetic plain
• Eastern Air Command,
• headquartered from Shillong, responsible for
• Bengal,
• Assam,
• the eastern states of
• Arunachal Pradesh,
• Meghalaya,
• Mizoram and the
• others bordering area on Tibet, Bangladesh and Burma.
• South Western Air Command,
• headquarters at Jodhpur, is responsible for
• air operations in most of Rajasthan,
• southwards through Gujrarat to Saurashtra
• and the Kutch area.
• Southern Air Command was formed in July 1984
• headquarters at Trivandrum
• geographically, the largest territory,
• from the Deccan plateau area
• to the southern tip of the peninsula and including the island territories of:
• Lakshwadeep
• the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
• Training Command
• headquarters at Bangalore,
• with the majority of flying and ground training establishments located in Southern India.
• Maintenance Command
• operates from Nagpur in Central India

• Director of Administration
• Director of Operations
• Director of Maintenance
• Director of Electronics

• Northern Command
• Central Command
• Southern Command

Indian Air Force Aircraft Summary (note that the counts can be upto 5 year old estimates):
 

Cnt	Designation	Description	Nuclear Capable	Speed	Range (km)
116	Jaguar	Fighter Bomber (UK)	5-500kT	M1.5	2600
200	MiG-27	Fighter Bomber (Russia)	5kT-1MT	M1.7	1100
74	MiG-29	Fighter  Bomber (Russia)	5-200kT	M2.35	1500
18	SU-30 Flanker K	Fighter Bomber (Russia)	5kT-1MT	M2.0	1500
42	Mirage 2000	Fighter Bomber (France)	5kT-1MT	M2.0	850km
10	TU-142 Bear	Long Range Bomber (Russia)	5kT-100MT	M1.2	13000km
4	TU-22 Backfire	Long Range Bomber (Russia)	5kT-100MT	M2.3
320	MiG-21M Fishbed	Multi-role, air or ground attk (Russia)		M2.1
65	MiG-23 Flogger	Dual Role (Air-to-Air/Bomber) (Russia)		M2.3
8	MiG-25	Strategic Recon (Russia)		M3.2
52	Mirage 2000H	Air to air interceptor (France)		M2.3
20	Jaguar Sepacat 1M	Marine Attack (UK)		M1.3
Dev	LCA (300 sought)	Light Combat Aircraft (India)
38	Canaberra	Patrol Aircraft (UK)		933kmph
10	Mi-26	Heavy Lift Troop Helicopter (Russia)		295kmph
20	Mi-25	Transport Gun Ship Helo		310kmph
80	Mi-17	Light transport gunship Helo		240kmph
20	Chetak	Light transport gunship Helo		220kmph
20	Cheetah	Medevac helo		121kmph
20	HF-24 Marut	Single Engine, phased out 1983 (India)		938knts
80	Ajeet	Single engine sub-sonic fighter (India)		580knts
242	HJT-16 Kiran	Jet Trainer Aircraft (India)
20	Hunter	Single engine sub-sonic attack (UK)		715mph	1840 miles
12?	IL-76D	Large Jet Transport		750knts
From the Federation of American Scientists online and the Indian Air Force web page onlinem and BHARAT RAKSHAK  Web Site

 

Summaries by Aircraft Type

Source:  BHARAT RAKSHAK  Web Site, The Federation of American Scientists online, Indian Air Force web page .

Note:  Counts of aircraft from the three source sites don't always match.  In this case, the larger number is used, indicating a worst case situation typical of wartime estimation.

Missiles

The following table indicates the Indian Missile Inventory including missiles under test or are suspected to exist:

Sources:  The Federation of American Scientists online, verifed by various public non-proliferation studies including
"The Rumsfeld Report" - The Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States
and U.S.'s annual report for 2001, Non-Proliferation:  Threat and Response.  Also some material taken or verified
from the U.S. Country Study on India, BHARAT RAKSHAK  Web Site.  Bolded and bracketed data is from WMD Insight ¹⁷ website.

Indian Missile Range Circles

WMD Insights.com ¹⁷

• The Trishul is a sea-skimming short-range missile.
• The Akash is a multitarget surface-to-air missile thatwas being test fired in 1994 and 1995.
• The Nag is essentially an antitank missile.

The Indian Navy

The Indian Navy has a history that goes back as part of the British colonies, providing a docking place for the British in the Orient.  The Bombay Dock, still in use today was the landing place for British masted sailing ships.

The modern Indian Navy has its roots during World War II as the British integrated the Royal Indian Navy into the British warfighting efforts.

At the Independence of India, the "Royal Navy" became the Indian Navy as command was passed to R Adm ITS Hall, CIE, as the first Command in Chief.
 

The following is form  the U.S. Country Study on India:

"The origins of the modern Indian navy are traced to a maritime force established by the East India Company in the seventeenth century. This force had a variety of names--the Bombay Marine, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Marine. In 1934 the Royal Indian Navy was established, with Indians serving primarily in lower-level positions. After independence the navy was the most neglected of the three services because the national leadership perceived that the bulk of the threats to India were land-based.

The first efforts at naval rearmament emerged in the 1964-69 Defense Plan, which called for the replacement of India's aging fleet and the development of a submarine service. Between 1947 and 1964, fiscal constraints had prevented the implementation of ambitious plans for naval expansion. Consequently, many of the vessels were obsolete and of little operational value. As part of this expansion program, the British helped develop the Mazagon Dock shipyard for the local production of British Leander-class frigates. The Soviets, however, were willing to support all phases of the planned naval expansion. Accordingly, they supplied naval vessels, support systems, and training on extremely favorable terms. By the mid-1960s, they had replaced Britain as India's principal naval supplier (see table 36, Appendix).

During the 1980s, Indian naval power grew significantly. During this period, the naval facilities at Port Blair in the Andaman Islands, in the Nicobar Islands, and in Lakshadweep were significantly upgraded and modernized. A new line of Leander-class frigates was manufactured at Mazagon Dock in collaboration with Vickers and Yarrow of Britain. These frigates, redesignated as the Godavari class, have antisubmarine warfare capabilities and can carry two helicopters. During the 1980s, plans were also finalized for the licensed manufacture of a line of West German Type 1500 submarines (known as the Shishumar class in India). In addition to these developments at Mazagon Dock, the naval air arm also was upgraded. India purchased nearly two squadrons of the vertical and short takeoff and landing (VSTOL) Sea Harriers to replace an
earlier generation of Sea Hawks.

In the mid-1990s, India was preparing for a major modernization program that was to include completion of three 5,000-ton Delhi-class destroyers, the building of three 3,700-ton frigates based on Italian Indian Naval Ship (INS)-10 design, and the acquisition of four hydrographic survey ships. Also to be built were an Indian-designed warship called Frigate 2001; six British Upholder-class submarines; an Indian-designed and Indian-built missile-firing nuclear submarine--the Advanced Technology Vessel--based on the Soviet Charlie II class; and an Indian-designed and Indian-built 17,000-ton air defense ship capable of carrying between twelve and fifteen aircraft. The air-defense ship will be, in effect, a replacement for India's two aging British aircraft carriers, the INS Vikrant , the keel of which was laid in 1943 but construction of which was not completed until 1961 and which was slated for decommissioning by 2000, and the INS Viraat , which entered service in 1987 and is likely to be decommissioned by 2005. The problems encountered with modernizing these and other foreign-source ships led India to decide against acquiring an ex-Soviet Kiev-class aircraft carrier in 1994.

In the spirit of international military cooperation, India has made moves in the early and mid-1990s to enhance joint-nation interoperability. Indian naval exercises have taken place with ships from the Russian navy and those of Indian Ocean littoral states and other nations, including the United States."

Today's Indian Navy serves under the Chief of Naval Staff.  The following is and excerpt from the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies report on the Indian Navy:

"Within NHQ (Navy Headquarters) the CNS is assisted by Principal Staff Officers (PSOs) of the rank of Vice Admiral and each one heads a particular branch. PSOs are assisted by Assistant PSOs, of rank Rear Admiral, or Directors, of rank Commodores and their staff to look after a particular Directorate.

In between the CNS and the PSOs ranks the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (VCNS) who is normally a very senior or sometimes the senior most Vice Admiral of the Navy. The organization of Eastern and Western Fleets has a predominantly operational basis. Logistics and technical elements are marginal.

The Fleet Commander is a Rear Admiral of the Executive Branch. He is assisted by the Fleet Operational Officer of the rank of a senior Captain. He coordinates the work of all other staff officers of different specializations considering all aspects of tactical nature plans are drawn for various operations.

Western and Eastern Naval Commands are the two bigger commands of the Indian Navy. They have under the Western and Eastern Fleets the main fighting force, as well as the two dockyards, i.e. Bombay Dockyard and Vishakhapatnam Dockyards.

The Southern Naval Command has main Air Stations of Naval Aviation and the Training Ship Squadron of the Indian navy. Like the dockyards at Bombay and Vishakhapatnam, Cochin has the main facilities for aircraft maintenance and repairs. The main fleets and the air base is normally under charge of an officer of the rank of Rear Admiral of the Executive Branch and their organizations are purely operational in nature.

The Southern Naval Command is also designated as the Training Command and is entrusted with the training matters of training schools and establishments wherever these might be in India. Other administrative matters of these establishments are looked after by the Command Headquarters of the area were these are located in.

The flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C),  a Senior Vice Admiral in rank, is the overall in-charge of the Command. The organization of a Command Headquarters is more or less on the same lines as that of Naval Headquarters but smaller in manpower. The FOC-in-C is assisted by the Chief of staff (COS) who is a Rear Admiral of the executive branch and deal with operational and plans matters. "

Naval Air

The Indian Naval Air arm maintains some 14 squadrons of Naval Aircraft:

Other India Material on MILNET:

• U.S. Department of State Backgrounder:  India
• Army War College Study on India and the Effects of Breakup of Soviet Union

The country of Pakistan was established on August 14, 1947.  The Pakistan military consists of the Army and Air Force. One year after winning its independence, India attacked and seized the province of Kashmir, an area still in dispute between Pakistan, India, and China.

A Pakistani Constitution was not created until 1956 however, with unrest between East Pakistan and West Pakistan contributing to political strive.  Eastern separatists aided by India began a campaign which by December 1971 erupted into open warfare between Pakistan and India, creating a new nation Bangladesh.

In 1973 a new constitution was established, however martial law continued after Army Chief Zia-ul-Haq seized power from Prime Minister Bhutto.  During this period, many Pakistani aided the Afghan Mujhadeen fight a guerilla war against Russian intrusion.  After Haq was killed in a plane crash, the country suffered without leadership until 1989 won elections were once again held and the daughter of the deposed Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto took office.  Bhutto went on to win office again in 1995.

In 1997, Nawaz Sharif was elected President and a period followed with Sharif disputing the authority of various government officials until finally he appointed Rafeeq Tarar as president and General Pervaiz Musharraf the Army Chief who later staged a coup and is today in control of the government.

The period between 1995 and 1998 also saw the development of a long range missile program and the successful completion of the nuclear weapons program culminating in the test of six nuclear weapons underground by Pakistan.

During this period the Kargil War with India also broke out, however, Pakistan withdrew ending the war.  Several negotiations over Kashmir have proven unsuccessful and this area continues to be an area of unrest and the chief bone of contention between the two countries.

In October, the U.S. led a small coalition of forces into Afghanistan, staging primarily from Pakistan.  The target being Al-Qaida terrorist network and the Taliban members who the U.S. claimed to have taken over the Afghani government.

In December of 2001, a group of radical Islamic extremists attacked, during session, the Indian Parliament, killing a number of Indian leaders.  The result was a ratcheting up of tensions and both countries building up forces on the border between the two countries.

Pakistani Army  (Soldiers Strength:   600,000 + 500,000 reserves)

The Pakistani Army reports to the Chief of the Army Staff headquartered in Rawalpindi with four staff officers (typically Major Generals) reporting:

• Chief of the General Staff
• Adjutant General
• Quartermaster General
• General of Ordnance

• Infantry
• Artillery
• Armor
• Engineers
• Communications

• Ordnance Corps
• Maintenance and Repair corps
• Electrical and mechanical Engineer Corps
• Education Corps (training)
• Military Police Corps
• Remount, Veterinary, and Farm Corps

 The typical Army Corps consists of two or more divisions and is commanded by a Lieutenant General.  An infantry division, the major ground force combat formation, usually consisted of infantry, artillery, engineers, and communications units in addition to the supply and service support required for sustained independent action.  Three infantry brigades usually comprise the primary organic combat units of an infantry division; armored units would be attached depending on the mission of the division and the terrain in which it is to operate.

Auxiliary or paramilitary forces include the Pakistan Rangers, the Frontier Corps, and the Frontier Constabulary.

Pakistani Army Structure

• 9 Corps HQs
• 2 Armoured Divisions
• 19 Infantry Divisions
• 1 Artillery Divisions
• 6 Independent Armoured Brigades
• 6 Independent Mechanized Infantry Brigades
• 8 Air Defense Brigades
• 9 Artillery Brigades
• 7 Engineers Brigades
• 3 Armoured Regiments
• 1 Special Services Group consisting of 3 regular battalions and 1 independent company)

•     I Corps (Mangla)
•      II Corps (Multan)
•      IV Corps (Lahore)
•      V Corps (Karachi)
•      X Corps (Rawalpindi)
•      XI Corps (Peshawar)
•      XII Corps (Quetta)
•      XXX Corps (Gujranwala)
•      XXXI Corps (Bahawalpur)

• Main Battle Tanks: 200 T-85II APs, 51 T-55s, 250 T-69s, 1200 T-59s, 100 T-60/63s, 450 M-47/48s (being withdrawn) Work completed on MBT-2000 Al-Khalid.

• Anti-Tank: AH-1 Cobras, 5500 TOWs & TOW-Iis. Armoured Personnel Carriers 800 M113s, 120 BTR 70s.  M113s Manufactured at Heavy Industries Taxila.

• Artillery: AMERICAN: 105/150/255 mm Self Propelled and Towed Howitzers. Also 85mm/122mm CHINESE guns. Old 25 pounders. Some BOFORS. Additional M-198 Howitzers being delivered from the US under the Brown Amendment

• Army Aviation: 20 AH-1 COBRA Gunships, Mi-8s, French Alloute IIIs, PUMAs, Mi-17s, UH-1s, Bell-47, Cessna O-1Es

• Army Air Defense: AA guns ZU-23/33 30, 36, 37mm. SAMs CROTALEs, 400 RBS-20, SAM-7, STINGERS, Anza mk II

• Surface-to-Surface Missiles Work Stopped on indigenous HATF-I,II Reportedly CHINESE M-11s acquired  clandestinely from China. Local Production of M113A2.

Source World Defense Almanac as reported on the Pakpal site on Geocities

Pakistani Air Force (65,000 active, 8,000 reserves)

The Pakistani Air Force is a small, mostly outdated Air Force comprised of weapons systems purchased from typical sources for third world, non-western allied sources.  This includes aircraft primarily from China and a few from France.  The U.S. added some Airborne Early Warning and air defense aircraft in recent years as rewards/bribes to help stabilize relations between Pakistan and India as well as an incentive to Pakistan to join test ban and non-proliferation treaties following the underground tests of nuclear weapons.

The Pakistani Air Force is commanded by the Chief of Air Staff, the Vice Chief of Air Staff and four Deputy Chiefs of Air Staff:

• Director of Administration
• Director of Operations
• Director of Maintenance
• Director of Electronics

• Northern Command
• Central Command
• Southern Command

Bases

These are 10 fully functional bases from which PAF aircraft operate during peacetime and wartime, 11 bases which become fully operational during wartime, although they are active during peacetime with fully developed infrastructure similar to the MOBs and which are capable of supporting all types of missions and once fully functional can give the same type of services as the MOBs, and  9 bases are for emergency landing and recovery of aircraft during both peacetime and wartime which have a very small infrastructure and are either lightly manned or, as in some cases, not manned at all.  The breakout of the bases are as follows (province in parends for some base references):

Airfields

The following are not classified as PAF bases but are mainly civilian airfields available to the PAF for emergency landing and  recovery of aircraft during both peacetime and wartime. Infrastructure and facilities at these airfields vary considerably.  Some are small to medium-sized fully-fledged civilian airports, others barely containing a single runway and sparse  infrastructure and support facilities. Most of them are capable of being used by jet-fighter aircraft whereas all are capable of handling medium-sized tactical transports. There are 23 such airfields (name of Province in parends):

Missiles

Other Material on Pakistan on MILNET:

• U.S. Department of State Backgrounder on Pakistan
• U.S. Army War College Strategy Paper on Pakistan and the effects of the Collapse of Soviet Union
• U.S. Air Force University Overview - Pakistan

India is a known nuclear nation with at least underground blasts concluded in 1998.  According to the U.S.'s annual report for 2001, Non-Proliferation:  Threat and Response,

"Conducted nuclear experiment tests on 11th and 13th of May, 1998, claming a total of five tests.  Conducted a "peaceful nuclear explosion (PNE) in 1974.  Capable of manufacturing complete sets of components for plutonium-based nuclear weapons.  Has small stockpiles of nuclear weapons components and can probably deploy a few weapons in a few days to a week.  It can deliver these weapons with fighter aircraft.  Announced draft nuclear doctrine in August of 1999 of no-first-use;  stated intent to create a triad of air-, land-, and sea-based missile delivery systems.  Has signed neither the NTP nor the CTBT."

"Though India has not made any official statements about the size of it nuclear arsenal, the NRDC estimates that India has a stockpile of approximately 30-35 nuclear warheads and claims that India is producing additional nuclear materials. Joseph Cirincione at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (3) estimates that India has produced enough weapons-grade plutonium for 50-90 nuclear weapons and a smaller but unknown quantity of weapons-grade uranium. Weapons-grade plutonium production takes place at the Bhabha Atomic Research Center, which is home to the Cirus reactor acquired from Canada, to the indigenous Dhruva reactor, and to a plutonium separation facility."

India can deliver weapons via fighter aircraft and ground systems, including artillery and rockets.  Missile programs are capable, however it is not clear warheads have been fitted and there is no verifiable public evidence that India has tested a dummy warhead proving delivery systems for nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.  India is developing what it calls the "Advanced Technology Vessel", primarily a "boomer", a nuclear submarine intended to mount tubes for SLBM missiles.

In December of 2007, India's Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) announced that India would be developing a missile capable of delivering a nuclear payload at a distance of some 3,800 miles.  The unnamed missile is thought to already be well into the development process before the announcement.

Proliferation

India is believed to have been an exporter to both Iran and Iraq and importer from France and China.  Having refused to sign the NPT, the Indian proliferation of anything they have has been demonstrated in a number of countries -- with interception of shipments implying a prolific traffic in nuclear weapons research and components.  India may be an exporter of nuclear material both waste, reactor grade, and weapons grade materials however is subject to IAEA inspections making this difficult except under exceptional clandestine conditions (i.e. undocumented production in a non-documented/inspected facility).

For more on the Indian Nuclear Program, see India section of Carey Sublette's Nuclear Weapons FAQ mirrored on MILNET.

Other Material on India's nuclear forces found on MILNET:

• MILNET coverage of India and Pakistani Nuclear Blasts
• MILNET Mirror - "U.S. Nuclear Cooperation With India:  Issues for Congress", Sharon Squassoni, the CRS, 7/29/2005
  

The Pakistani NBC situation  is first and foremost, a known nuclear nation with six underground blasts concluded in 1998.  According to the U.S.'s annual report for 2001, Non-Proliferation:  Threat and Response,

"Capable of manufacturing complete sets of components for highly enriched uranium-based nuclear weapons; capability to produce plutonium weapons.  Has small stockpiles of nuclear weapons components and can probably assemble some weapons fairly quickly.  It can deliver them with fighter aircraft and possibly missiles.  Has signed neither the NTP nor the CTBT."

Pakistan can deliver weapons via fighter aircraft and ground systems, including artillery.  Missile programs are capable, however it is not clear warheads have been fitted and there is no verifiable public evidence that Pakistan has tested a dummy warhead proving delivery systems for nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.

Proliferation

Pakistan is believed to be an exporter to both Iran and Iraq and importer from France and China, and early on from Russia.  Having refused to sign the NPT, the Pakistani proliferation of anything they have has been demonstrated in a number of countries -- with interception of shipments implying a prolific traffic in nuclear weapons research and components.  Pakistan may be the number one exporter of nuclear material both waste, reactor grade, and weapons grade materials.

In October of 2003, Pakistan's A.Q. Khan, their premier nuclear expert, was found to have created a thriving black market in nuclear facilities construction information and quite possibly nuclear material and the specifications for building nuclear weapons.  It is believed he sold all this to such nations as Iran, Libya, and North Korea.  One of the intermediaries in this black market was Scomi Precision Engineering  (SCOPE) in Selangor, Malaysia.

See GlobalSecurity.com's fine article on Khan ¹⁴ and the Council on Foreign Relations Q&A on A.Q. Khan  ¹⁵    and the Pakistan section of Carey Sublette's Nuclear Weapons FAQ mirrored on MILNET.

1. Source World Defense Almanac as reported on the Pakpal site on Geocities 
2. Federation of American Scientists 
3. "The Rumsfeld Report" - The Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States 
4. The Pakistani Army Web Page online 
5. Pakistani Air Defense Institute online
   
6. Non-Proliferation:  Threat and Response, 2001, U.S. Department of State
   
7. Country Study - Pakistan,. U.S. Air Force University Overview
8. The Conventional Military Balance in India, Pakistan, and South Asia, Anthony H. Cordesman, Center for Strategic and International Studies, December 28, 2001 (MILNET Mirror)
9. Four Crises and a Peace Process: American Engagement with India and Pakistan, Cohen, Rodman, Schaffer, Tellis, Brookings Institute, 11/27/2007 (MILNET Mirror)
10. Weapons of Mass Destruction in South Asia, India, and Pakistan, Anthony H. Cordesman, Center for Strategic and International Studies, February, 2001 (MILNET Mirror)
11. The India-Pakistan Military Balance, Anthony H. Cordesman, Center for Strategic and International Studies, February, 2001 (MILNET Mirror)
12. U.S. Nuclear Cooperation with India:  Issues For Congress, Sharon Squassoni, Congressional Reporting Service, July 29, 2005, Sharon Squassoni  (MILNET Mirror)
13. India-Pakistan Briefing, Part One, Part Two, Part Three, MILNET, distributed by AFI, December, 2001
14. A.Q. Khan, GlobalSecurity.com
15. NONPROLIFERATION:  The Pakistan Network, Esther Pan, Council on Foreign Relations, 2/12/2004
16. Nuclear Weapons - India, Federation of American Scientists, 11/08/2002
17. India Successfully Tests Agni-III:  A Stepping Stone to an ICBM?, WMD Insights, May 2007
18. Pakistan's Missile Tests Highlight Growing South Aisa Nuclear Arms Race, Despite New Building  Measures, WMD Insighs, April 2007
19. The Nuclear Weapons FAQ, Carey Sublette, Authorized MILNET Mirror