THE FLIGHT OF A GHAURI
Wing Comd (Retd) MUHAMMAD IRSHAD gives a fascinating historical background of aero-missile events leading to the GHAURI becoming airborne
On Dec 17, 1903, Bishop Wright of United Brethren, received in his farm house on Hawthorn Street in Dayton, Ohio, a telegram from his boys, Wilbur and Orville, who had got into their heads to spend their vacations in a little camp out on the dunes of the North Carolina coast tinkering with a home made glider they had knocked together themselves. The telegram read Success four flights Thursday morning All against twenty one mile wind started from level with engine power alone average speed through air thirty one miles longest fifty seven seconds inform press home Christmas1. The figures were a little wrong because the telegraph operator misread Orville's hasty pencil scrawl, but the fact remains, that a couple of young bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio had designed, constructed and flown for the first time ever a practical airplane.
On that chilly December day, the soaring into air of a home made contraception whittled out of hickory sticks, gummed together with Arnstein's bicycle cement, stretched with muslin they had sewn on their sister's sewing machine in their own backyard on Hawthorn street in Dayton, Ohio, had given the shivering bicycle mechanics much more than a man could long for. Alfonso of Spain shook hands and was photographed sitting in the machine, King Edward watched a flight, the crown prince insisted on being taken up, the rain of medals began. They were congratulated by Czar, and the king of Italy, and the amateurs of sports, and the society of climbers and the papal titles, and decorated by a society for universal peace. Aeronautics became the sport of the day.
Not any extent of visualisation, no amount of imagination, not even the fancy of fiction writers could conceive the multi-directional progress this aeronautics was to make and is still making. The helicopters evacuating emergencies, the luxurious air travel squeezing this world, communication and spy satellites overhead, helping us to talk and watch TV programs in different parts of the world, space shuttles with moon landings and performing unimaginable experiments, Soviet space station, shuttles sent to study Mars etc. all owe their origin to the small zigzag 12 seconds flight on that chilly morning. All kinds of modern day missile programmes also stem from the same origin.
The Military portion f this aeronautics is called 'Air Power', which mainly because of two world wars, got more than normal share to mature and progress, to an extent that just after 46 years, Mr. Winston Churchill, a great statesman of his age, not always an unqualified devotee of air power, expressing his opinion in his famous address at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1949, said For good or ill, air mastery is today, the supreme expression of military power. And fleets and armies, however necessary and important, must accept subordinate rank. This is a memorable milestone in the march of man.' 2
The distinctive expression 'Air Power' was used in connection with manned aircraft very soon after the Wright brothers' success, and air warfare soon became a complex activity. A world war I pilot flew frail wire, wood and canvas biplanes faster than 100 miles per hour and had to adroitly manoeuvre behind an enemy aircraft to shoot at it, with his machine guns. Aircraft were the leading edge of technology, but the pilots had few aids. He detected his prey visually and fired at it over a fixed sight at short range. He worried as much about getting lost over the field of battle or mechanical or structural failure as he did about enemy fighters or ground gunners. Bombing was, in most cases, simply dropping the projectile over the side. World war II began with faster, more reliable monoplanes, but the fighter pilot's tasks were still quite similar to those of his world war I predecessors: rove the battle zone, detect enemy aircraft, and down them at close range by machine guns and cannon. Attack aircraft had internal bomb bays, simple delivery aid, and more effective weapons. As the war progressed, radar brought about ground-controlled intercepts, operationally feasible night fighting, more accurate day and night anti-aircraft fire, and blind bombing. The pilot had new gun sights, radar systems, and even electronic counter measure equipment to operate.
Air power because of its high mobility, adaptability and ubiquity makes it possible to bring concentrated force to bear quickly wherever it is needed. I do not say that it can do everything; it cannot cease and hold ground- only land forces can do that, it does not have an extreme endurance at very large ranges. But what air power does is to illustrate better than any other arm a most important principal of war. Clauswitz called it action at the schwerpunkt, or the centre of gravity. Liddlehart identified it as the distillation of all the other principals of war, it is the principal of applying great force at the decisive point. The race continues with more heat, energies and money being pumped in. No matter how far one pushes the bounds of our imagination, one must not forget that throughout history, for every revolutionary weapon invented, an adversary eventually devised a defence or counter weapon. Advantage, parity, disadvantage- like a chess game- rival factions have always monoeuvred to change the military status quo. To-date some of the known technologies in the field of Air power include a modern helicopter easily carrying an army tank. A modern aircraft while flying over cities could jam all the communications system while carrying enough non-nuclear payload to destroy a city. The speeds of some of the aircraft is more than twice the speed of sound. A modern AWAC could monitor all the air traffic of the country and the latest transport aircraft may carry more than two loaded railway compartment. There are missiles that can intercept and destroy the in- coming missile. There are aircraft which the radar cannot detect, the spy satellites that can detect the light of a cigarette lighter etc. There may be aircraft existing or in the making like that suggested in the excellent air combat novel 'Fire Fox' by Craig Thomas, where a fighter's weapons were launched and guided by a pilot's thought impulse without ever having to push a button.
The possession of this kind of offensive capability does elevate the normal man's psyche to some unlimited heights. The possessor does have much more than the normal feelings about himself, and by possessors I mean the modern day rulers. Now there are all kinds of rulers but they are all human beings. If countries get entangled in disputes with other countries the best thing is to solve the problems by diplomacy. However the talking postures are different if the weapons within your access are very different in the output (Have you ever seen a feudal lord talking to his tenant ?). So the urge is to cut short the diplomacy and put to test your offensive weapons. It does not really matter whether the man at the helm of affairs is elected or not. Also whether he belongs to the third world or the first world. Even the elected president of United States of America, with all the human rights preaching, could not resist using atom bombs, when he found going tough for him, and that too against many odds. The reality of the actual strength which underlay the display of force made by president Truman at that time, when none of the deployed B-29 could have carried atom bomb seems to suggest either ignorance or a very strong nerve on the part of the president. At first, deployment to forward bases in Europe or Pacific was required because of the range limitations of the B-29, and the bomber had to be accompanied by transports carrying unassembled atomic weapons, loading equipment and ground crew.3 Thus 20,000 Tons of equivalent TNT was dumped over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The effects of this radiation lasted for many years and were spread to many kilometers of vicinity. The total loss in terms of human lives and miseries still remains uncalculated.
That was the action taken by the elected president of a country that still considers itself as the champion of human rights. What should you do if history and geography place you as a neighbour of a country known for continued violence and a reputation of injecting maximum harm to all neighbours? Unfortunately, Pakistan is that country which happens to be the neighbour of the known bully-the followers of Chanakya's dictums, the only country in the world having strained relations with all its neighbours- India. With a dream of Maha Bharat, India has already taken control of Bhutan, a stifling economic blockade on Nepal was imposed, engineered the birth of Sri Lanka's political cancer - the LTTE to the extent of air dropping the insurgents, having Ganges Water and Teen Baiga corridor conflicts with Bangladesh, has border dispute with China and is giving special treatment to Pakistan. Few countries in post-war history had so brutally experienced the use of force in inter-state relations as has Pakistan. The Indians forcibly occupied Junagadh, Mangrol and Manavadr, then sent troops and occupied the best part of Kashmir, even to-date, the amount of degradation and torture to which the Muslims in held Kashmir are being subjected is beyond imagination, it also conspired and succeeded in slicing us into two. But the Maha Bharat dream is still incomplete, so more continued pressure must be exerted on all neighbours, particularly Pakistan, and as per Chanakya dictum, keep propagating that India's security is in danger because of neighbours, particularly Pakistan. This is the posture in spite of the fact that India's territorial depths and military strength including the military imports and indigenous manufacture are much more than the combined territory and military strength of all her neighbours (Except China).
The creator of Pakistan died in the early stages, leaving behind a trail of whimsical and bad governance. Obviously we ended up with smaller size and bigger problems. The seekers of independence on the name of ideology probably considered the beginning as the end. Surprisingly the jolts like cutting into two in 1971, the Indian nuclear blast in 1974 and Russian invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan in 1979 were not sufficient to awaken the nation from slumber. Rather than reading our own history books, and relying on our own muscles, we sought safety in the shadow of big brother's SEATO and CENTO which ultimately proved to be wagons in the wrong direction. They taught us a lesson in 1965, by embargoing us when we really needed them, but we failed to get the message and continued the easy path of hatching almost all defence eggs in the same basket. They repeated their performance by a highway robbery act with our money for F-16 Aircraft- $ 508 millions for 28 aircraft, which is a lot of money, keeping in view the cash starved poor economy.
The collective follies were creating a perfect hunting ground for the enemy, who was gaining strength and muscles with every passing day. The Indians kept building their muscles. Apart from having world's fourth largest Army, being the third largest importer of arms and having extensive indigenous capability with large Air and Naval fleets, India also started an extensive missile program which included the deployment of Pakistan specific, Prithvi being moved to a perspective deployment site at Jullunder (Near Pak borders), along with surface to surface Agni, surface to air Akash and Trishul, and the anti-tank missile, Nag, being at various stages of development. It also announced its programmes for Anti tactical ballistic missile capability, and acquisition of Theatre missile defences from Russia.
When India announced plans to begin compulsory military training for her youth, we took 25 more years to announce the same (in 1973). After 10 years of India's maiden test launch of the nuclear capable Prithvi missile (which subsequently underwent 15 more tests or user trials), and nine years after the longer range Agni's first test in 1989, on 6th April 1998, Pakistan test fired her longest range surface to surface three-stage ballistic missile with a range of 1500 Kms and a payload of 700 kilograms. This was the first ever exhibition of military deterrence on part of Pakistan and was immediately dubbed as a great technological breakthrough, a strategic equalizer, and a precursor to Pakistan's entry into space age. It was a great morale booster, Yes! But the talk of it as an equaliser, or the talk it can neither be shot nor defended by Indians, lulls Pakistan into a false sense of security. Indian ballistic missile program is older, larger and much more advanced than that of Pakistan. Any suggestion from our side that by successfully developing and firing Ghauri missile, Pakistan has achieved a missile parity and security balance with India detracts from the real magnitude of the security threats to our existence posed by growing Indian nuclear and missile capabilities. The Ghauri missile does equip Islamabad with a minimum retaliatory strike capability against an Indian missile attack on Pakistan but does not blunt the Indian strategic edge over Pakistan.
The nuclear age has introduced a new inhibition upon the idea of national power construed primarily as military force and upon the formulation of national policy upon this concept of power. In the nuclear missile age, it is no longer possible to inflict massive damage upon an enemy, without at the same time inflicting (or risking the threat of) equivalent damage to one's own country. Widespread realisation of this fact has brought about the nuclear balance of terror, in which violent political clashes thus far have been confined to conventional weapons. After many years of acquiring Nuclear and Missile capabilities, at a point in history, Union of Soviet Socialist republic, found itself pitched against USA in the Cuban crisis. Things went up to an extreme and the danger of a third world war was visible, but the mighty Russians decided for a humiliating withdrawal. Unlike President Truman, no use of the nuclear weapons was made probably because of possible retaliatory steps, although both sides had a huge stock of ballistic missiles and nuclear war heads. Any foolish act would have resulted in equivalent, if not more of retaliatory steps. That is where the safety lies. To face a giant, the posture must be that of a giant. Same thing was preached many years back by the Learned Chinese Scholar, Sun Tzu when he said The art of war teaches us not to rely on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact the we have made our position unassialable'4.
The test fire and further progress in related fields guarantees us that Indians would think quite a bit before taking an extreme step. This test fire also does not eliminate or reduce the size and capability of conventional weapons. They must be allowed to grow in the continued pattern. The nuclear weapons may have the power to write the concluding remarks, but most of our on-going conflicts will still need the conventional weapons, probably more in quantity and quality, if we want to improve our posture in the face of enemy's threats. The skirmish in Siachin, on Kashmir borders and along the long India-Pakistan border will probably continue, all requiring the conventional weapons. The largest stock holder of nuclear weapons, USA, is also maintaining the largest fleet of conventional weapons. In the new situation, however, weapons of mass destruction could be delivered in the space of one raid by relatively few aircraft or missiles, so as to inflict upon an enemy a degree of devastation never before imaginable. The significance is that since there would be no time for counter-attack, nations would have to fight with weapons and organisation which were ready at the outbreak of war. National preparedness and allied co-operation has therefore become all-important, if a country is to stand any chance of survival against a nuclear threat.
Air power is not, and never have been, merely a matter of having aircraft and missiles. Behind the front line of any such offensive and defensive programs, there must be a comprehensive infrastructure of support, including the skill of maintenance and repair as well as related training infrastructure. It is also directly connected with the ability and willingness of a nation to meet the budgetary and opportunity cost of air power. Also power must always be construed dynamically and understood as a phenomenon that is constantly in a state of flux. It is a continuous race where realities keep changing with every passing day. An empty pocket cannot afford the luxuries of modern technologies, and even after possessing them, the costs of simply maintaining them are enormous. The cost of technical manpower shall also continue to show a rising trend.
A nation having 3 per cent of world population but having only 0.2 percent of planet's wealth needs to think and plan her options in a cool manner without any kind of panic and bravado. The deep slumber along with the follies of past fifty years have landed us into a very complex situation. If we slacken our military strength, Indians will be too happy to annihilate us. If we choose to have military strength without performing miracles with our economy, the erstwhile union of Soviet Socialist republic is a good example to learn about the awaiting future.
We have to search all avenues, all corridors for we have no choice but to come up with the best answer. It is a question of do or die.
The feeling that Ghauri missile is a panacea to our security problems also betrays a total lack of understanding of security as a multidimensional phenomenon. Security may be threatened from a number of different directions and sources.
Clearly one such is external military threat emanating from India. But it is also the case that a stagnant economy, mass unemployment, large scale drug trafficking, sectarian violence, deteriorating law and order situation, suppression of human rights, ill treatment and persecution for reasons of faith and gender etc., also threaten the security of Pakistan.
Unfortunately, we do not seem to have achieved any significant breakthrough in coping with these formidable challenges. If we do not rise to eradicate these menaces today, when shall we?
Wing Comd (Retd) MUHAMMAD IRSHAD gives a fascinating historical background of aero-missile events leading to the GHAURI becoming airborne
On Dec 17, 1903, Bishop Wright of United Brethren, received in his farm house on Hawthorn Street in Dayton, Ohio, a telegram from his boys, Wilbur and Orville, who had got into their heads to spend their vacations in a little camp out on the dunes of the North Carolina coast tinkering with a home made glider they had knocked together themselves. The telegram read Success four flights Thursday morning All against twenty one mile wind started from level with engine power alone average speed through air thirty one miles longest fifty seven seconds inform press home Christmas1. The figures were a little wrong because the telegraph operator misread Orville's hasty pencil scrawl, but the fact remains, that a couple of young bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio had designed, constructed and flown for the first time ever a practical airplane.
On that chilly December day, the soaring into air of a home made contraception whittled out of hickory sticks, gummed together with Arnstein's bicycle cement, stretched with muslin they had sewn on their sister's sewing machine in their own backyard on Hawthorn street in Dayton, Ohio, had given the shivering bicycle mechanics much more than a man could long for. Alfonso of Spain shook hands and was photographed sitting in the machine, King Edward watched a flight, the crown prince insisted on being taken up, the rain of medals began. They were congratulated by Czar, and the king of Italy, and the amateurs of sports, and the society of climbers and the papal titles, and decorated by a society for universal peace. Aeronautics became the sport of the day.
Not any extent of visualisation, no amount of imagination, not even the fancy of fiction writers could conceive the multi-directional progress this aeronautics was to make and is still making. The helicopters evacuating emergencies, the luxurious air travel squeezing this world, communication and spy satellites overhead, helping us to talk and watch TV programs in different parts of the world, space shuttles with moon landings and performing unimaginable experiments, Soviet space station, shuttles sent to study Mars etc. all owe their origin to the small zigzag 12 seconds flight on that chilly morning. All kinds of modern day missile programmes also stem from the same origin.
The Military portion f this aeronautics is called 'Air Power', which mainly because of two world wars, got more than normal share to mature and progress, to an extent that just after 46 years, Mr. Winston Churchill, a great statesman of his age, not always an unqualified devotee of air power, expressing his opinion in his famous address at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1949, said For good or ill, air mastery is today, the supreme expression of military power. And fleets and armies, however necessary and important, must accept subordinate rank. This is a memorable milestone in the march of man.' 2
The distinctive expression 'Air Power' was used in connection with manned aircraft very soon after the Wright brothers' success, and air warfare soon became a complex activity. A world war I pilot flew frail wire, wood and canvas biplanes faster than 100 miles per hour and had to adroitly manoeuvre behind an enemy aircraft to shoot at it, with his machine guns. Aircraft were the leading edge of technology, but the pilots had few aids. He detected his prey visually and fired at it over a fixed sight at short range. He worried as much about getting lost over the field of battle or mechanical or structural failure as he did about enemy fighters or ground gunners. Bombing was, in most cases, simply dropping the projectile over the side. World war II began with faster, more reliable monoplanes, but the fighter pilot's tasks were still quite similar to those of his world war I predecessors: rove the battle zone, detect enemy aircraft, and down them at close range by machine guns and cannon. Attack aircraft had internal bomb bays, simple delivery aid, and more effective weapons. As the war progressed, radar brought about ground-controlled intercepts, operationally feasible night fighting, more accurate day and night anti-aircraft fire, and blind bombing. The pilot had new gun sights, radar systems, and even electronic counter measure equipment to operate.
Air power because of its high mobility, adaptability and ubiquity makes it possible to bring concentrated force to bear quickly wherever it is needed. I do not say that it can do everything; it cannot cease and hold ground- only land forces can do that, it does not have an extreme endurance at very large ranges. But what air power does is to illustrate better than any other arm a most important principal of war. Clauswitz called it action at the schwerpunkt, or the centre of gravity. Liddlehart identified it as the distillation of all the other principals of war, it is the principal of applying great force at the decisive point. The race continues with more heat, energies and money being pumped in. No matter how far one pushes the bounds of our imagination, one must not forget that throughout history, for every revolutionary weapon invented, an adversary eventually devised a defence or counter weapon. Advantage, parity, disadvantage- like a chess game- rival factions have always monoeuvred to change the military status quo. To-date some of the known technologies in the field of Air power include a modern helicopter easily carrying an army tank. A modern aircraft while flying over cities could jam all the communications system while carrying enough non-nuclear payload to destroy a city. The speeds of some of the aircraft is more than twice the speed of sound. A modern AWAC could monitor all the air traffic of the country and the latest transport aircraft may carry more than two loaded railway compartment. There are missiles that can intercept and destroy the in- coming missile. There are aircraft which the radar cannot detect, the spy satellites that can detect the light of a cigarette lighter etc. There may be aircraft existing or in the making like that suggested in the excellent air combat novel 'Fire Fox' by Craig Thomas, where a fighter's weapons were launched and guided by a pilot's thought impulse without ever having to push a button.
The possession of this kind of offensive capability does elevate the normal man's psyche to some unlimited heights. The possessor does have much more than the normal feelings about himself, and by possessors I mean the modern day rulers. Now there are all kinds of rulers but they are all human beings. If countries get entangled in disputes with other countries the best thing is to solve the problems by diplomacy. However the talking postures are different if the weapons within your access are very different in the output (Have you ever seen a feudal lord talking to his tenant ?). So the urge is to cut short the diplomacy and put to test your offensive weapons. It does not really matter whether the man at the helm of affairs is elected or not. Also whether he belongs to the third world or the first world. Even the elected president of United States of America, with all the human rights preaching, could not resist using atom bombs, when he found going tough for him, and that too against many odds. The reality of the actual strength which underlay the display of force made by president Truman at that time, when none of the deployed B-29 could have carried atom bomb seems to suggest either ignorance or a very strong nerve on the part of the president. At first, deployment to forward bases in Europe or Pacific was required because of the range limitations of the B-29, and the bomber had to be accompanied by transports carrying unassembled atomic weapons, loading equipment and ground crew.3 Thus 20,000 Tons of equivalent TNT was dumped over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The effects of this radiation lasted for many years and were spread to many kilometers of vicinity. The total loss in terms of human lives and miseries still remains uncalculated.
That was the action taken by the elected president of a country that still considers itself as the champion of human rights. What should you do if history and geography place you as a neighbour of a country known for continued violence and a reputation of injecting maximum harm to all neighbours? Unfortunately, Pakistan is that country which happens to be the neighbour of the known bully-the followers of Chanakya's dictums, the only country in the world having strained relations with all its neighbours- India. With a dream of Maha Bharat, India has already taken control of Bhutan, a stifling economic blockade on Nepal was imposed, engineered the birth of Sri Lanka's political cancer - the LTTE to the extent of air dropping the insurgents, having Ganges Water and Teen Baiga corridor conflicts with Bangladesh, has border dispute with China and is giving special treatment to Pakistan. Few countries in post-war history had so brutally experienced the use of force in inter-state relations as has Pakistan. The Indians forcibly occupied Junagadh, Mangrol and Manavadr, then sent troops and occupied the best part of Kashmir, even to-date, the amount of degradation and torture to which the Muslims in held Kashmir are being subjected is beyond imagination, it also conspired and succeeded in slicing us into two. But the Maha Bharat dream is still incomplete, so more continued pressure must be exerted on all neighbours, particularly Pakistan, and as per Chanakya dictum, keep propagating that India's security is in danger because of neighbours, particularly Pakistan. This is the posture in spite of the fact that India's territorial depths and military strength including the military imports and indigenous manufacture are much more than the combined territory and military strength of all her neighbours (Except China).
The creator of Pakistan died in the early stages, leaving behind a trail of whimsical and bad governance. Obviously we ended up with smaller size and bigger problems. The seekers of independence on the name of ideology probably considered the beginning as the end. Surprisingly the jolts like cutting into two in 1971, the Indian nuclear blast in 1974 and Russian invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan in 1979 were not sufficient to awaken the nation from slumber. Rather than reading our own history books, and relying on our own muscles, we sought safety in the shadow of big brother's SEATO and CENTO which ultimately proved to be wagons in the wrong direction. They taught us a lesson in 1965, by embargoing us when we really needed them, but we failed to get the message and continued the easy path of hatching almost all defence eggs in the same basket. They repeated their performance by a highway robbery act with our money for F-16 Aircraft- $ 508 millions for 28 aircraft, which is a lot of money, keeping in view the cash starved poor economy.
The collective follies were creating a perfect hunting ground for the enemy, who was gaining strength and muscles with every passing day. The Indians kept building their muscles. Apart from having world's fourth largest Army, being the third largest importer of arms and having extensive indigenous capability with large Air and Naval fleets, India also started an extensive missile program which included the deployment of Pakistan specific, Prithvi being moved to a perspective deployment site at Jullunder (Near Pak borders), along with surface to surface Agni, surface to air Akash and Trishul, and the anti-tank missile, Nag, being at various stages of development. It also announced its programmes for Anti tactical ballistic missile capability, and acquisition of Theatre missile defences from Russia.
When India announced plans to begin compulsory military training for her youth, we took 25 more years to announce the same (in 1973). After 10 years of India's maiden test launch of the nuclear capable Prithvi missile (which subsequently underwent 15 more tests or user trials), and nine years after the longer range Agni's first test in 1989, on 6th April 1998, Pakistan test fired her longest range surface to surface three-stage ballistic missile with a range of 1500 Kms and a payload of 700 kilograms. This was the first ever exhibition of military deterrence on part of Pakistan and was immediately dubbed as a great technological breakthrough, a strategic equalizer, and a precursor to Pakistan's entry into space age. It was a great morale booster, Yes! But the talk of it as an equaliser, or the talk it can neither be shot nor defended by Indians, lulls Pakistan into a false sense of security. Indian ballistic missile program is older, larger and much more advanced than that of Pakistan. Any suggestion from our side that by successfully developing and firing Ghauri missile, Pakistan has achieved a missile parity and security balance with India detracts from the real magnitude of the security threats to our existence posed by growing Indian nuclear and missile capabilities. The Ghauri missile does equip Islamabad with a minimum retaliatory strike capability against an Indian missile attack on Pakistan but does not blunt the Indian strategic edge over Pakistan.
The nuclear age has introduced a new inhibition upon the idea of national power construed primarily as military force and upon the formulation of national policy upon this concept of power. In the nuclear missile age, it is no longer possible to inflict massive damage upon an enemy, without at the same time inflicting (or risking the threat of) equivalent damage to one's own country. Widespread realisation of this fact has brought about the nuclear balance of terror, in which violent political clashes thus far have been confined to conventional weapons. After many years of acquiring Nuclear and Missile capabilities, at a point in history, Union of Soviet Socialist republic, found itself pitched against USA in the Cuban crisis. Things went up to an extreme and the danger of a third world war was visible, but the mighty Russians decided for a humiliating withdrawal. Unlike President Truman, no use of the nuclear weapons was made probably because of possible retaliatory steps, although both sides had a huge stock of ballistic missiles and nuclear war heads. Any foolish act would have resulted in equivalent, if not more of retaliatory steps. That is where the safety lies. To face a giant, the posture must be that of a giant. Same thing was preached many years back by the Learned Chinese Scholar, Sun Tzu when he said The art of war teaches us not to rely on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact the we have made our position unassialable'4.
The test fire and further progress in related fields guarantees us that Indians would think quite a bit before taking an extreme step. This test fire also does not eliminate or reduce the size and capability of conventional weapons. They must be allowed to grow in the continued pattern. The nuclear weapons may have the power to write the concluding remarks, but most of our on-going conflicts will still need the conventional weapons, probably more in quantity and quality, if we want to improve our posture in the face of enemy's threats. The skirmish in Siachin, on Kashmir borders and along the long India-Pakistan border will probably continue, all requiring the conventional weapons. The largest stock holder of nuclear weapons, USA, is also maintaining the largest fleet of conventional weapons. In the new situation, however, weapons of mass destruction could be delivered in the space of one raid by relatively few aircraft or missiles, so as to inflict upon an enemy a degree of devastation never before imaginable. The significance is that since there would be no time for counter-attack, nations would have to fight with weapons and organisation which were ready at the outbreak of war. National preparedness and allied co-operation has therefore become all-important, if a country is to stand any chance of survival against a nuclear threat.
Air power is not, and never have been, merely a matter of having aircraft and missiles. Behind the front line of any such offensive and defensive programs, there must be a comprehensive infrastructure of support, including the skill of maintenance and repair as well as related training infrastructure. It is also directly connected with the ability and willingness of a nation to meet the budgetary and opportunity cost of air power. Also power must always be construed dynamically and understood as a phenomenon that is constantly in a state of flux. It is a continuous race where realities keep changing with every passing day. An empty pocket cannot afford the luxuries of modern technologies, and even after possessing them, the costs of simply maintaining them are enormous. The cost of technical manpower shall also continue to show a rising trend.
A nation having 3 per cent of world population but having only 0.2 percent of planet's wealth needs to think and plan her options in a cool manner without any kind of panic and bravado. The deep slumber along with the follies of past fifty years have landed us into a very complex situation. If we slacken our military strength, Indians will be too happy to annihilate us. If we choose to have military strength without performing miracles with our economy, the erstwhile union of Soviet Socialist republic is a good example to learn about the awaiting future.
We have to search all avenues, all corridors for we have no choice but to come up with the best answer. It is a question of do or die.
The feeling that Ghauri missile is a panacea to our security problems also betrays a total lack of understanding of security as a multidimensional phenomenon. Security may be threatened from a number of different directions and sources.
Clearly one such is external military threat emanating from India. But it is also the case that a stagnant economy, mass unemployment, large scale drug trafficking, sectarian violence, deteriorating law and order situation, suppression of human rights, ill treatment and persecution for reasons of faith and gender etc., also threaten the security of Pakistan.
Unfortunately, we do not seem to have achieved any significant breakthrough in coping with these formidable challenges. If we do not rise to eradicate these menaces today, when shall we?
like the way both have responded.
