NAVALPOSTGRADUATESCHOOL
MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA
THESIS
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimitedINDIAN NUCLEAR COMMAND AND CONTROLDILEMMA
byRakesh Kumar September 2006Thesis Co-Advisors: Dan C.Boger Peter R.Lavoy
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1. AGENCY USE ONLY
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2. REPORT DATE
September 2006
3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED
Master’s Thesis
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE
Indian Nuclear Command and Control Dilemma
6. AUTHOR(S)
Rakesh Kumar
5. FUNDING NUMBERS7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
Naval Postgraduate SchoolMonterey, CA 93943-5000
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9. SPONSORING /MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
N/A
10. SPONSORING/MONITORINGAGENCY REPORT NUMBER
11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
The views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not reflect the official policyor position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.
12a. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited
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13. ABSTRACT (maximum 200 words)
The aim of the thesis to analyze the India’s nuclear weapons command and control dilemma as a consequence of its 1998 nuclear tests. The small size of India’s nuclear weapons does not imply that its command and controlstructure would be simple. It would require the same infrastructure, capabilities, and operating concepts possessed bycountries with larger number of nuclear weapons, but maybe on a smaller scale. A small arsenal is easy to control, butthen it is vulnerable to attack, and hence the issue of command and control becomes more complex. India’s No-First-Use (NFU) policy and the de-mated nuclear posture also make the command and control of nuclear weapons look simple, affordable, and easy to implement. But the nuclear policy and posture must be examined through the prism of peacetime, crisis and wartime situations. The smooth transition from peacetime to crisis and, if required, to wartimedemands a robust command and control system.This thesis examines the requirements and then provides recommendations for the command and control structurefor Indian nuclear operations. The thesis will investigates the U.S. command and control model and draws lessons for a suitable option for India. While NFU has many challenges, it can be effective provided that India adopts anoperational capability of Launch After Attack (LAA), which would require a significant upgrade of command andcontrol structure and procedures. In particular, this thesis demonstrates the role that civilians and military couldeffectively play to strengthen “minimum credible deterrence” within the established financial, political, and strategic parameters.
15. NUMBER OFPAGES
143
14. SUBJECT TERMS
Nuclear command and control, nuclear weapons, civil-military relations
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5. Limitations of C-in-C SFC as an Operational Commander for Nuclear posture, command and control
The research paper touches intriguing aspects of nuclear strategy : posture, command, control, vulnerabilities, etc
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