Strategic Forces Command

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Strategic Forces Command
Founded4 January 2003; 21 years ago (2003-01-04)
Country 
Vice Admiral Suraj Berry

The Strategic Forces Command (SFC), sometimes called Strategic Nuclear Command, forms part of India's Nuclear Command Authority (NCA). It is responsible for the management and administration of the country's tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile.[1] It was created on 4 January 2003 by the Vajpayee Government.[2] Air Marshal Teja Mohan Asthana became its first commander-in-chief.[3][4]

Responsibility

It is the responsibility of the Strategic Forces Command to operationalize the directives of the

three-star rank officer. It will have the sole responsibility of initiating the process of delivering nuclear weapons and warheads, after acquiring explicit approval from the NCA. The exact selection of the target area shall be decided by the SFC through a calibrated, cumulative process involving various levels of decision-making, and with formal approval by the NCA.[3][4]

The SFC manages and administers all strategic forces by exercising complete command and control over nuclear assets, and producing all contingency plans as needed to fulfill the required tasks. Since its inception, the SFC's command, control and communication systems have been firmly established, and the command has attained a high state of operational readiness.[5]

Assets

The estimated 68 nuclear warheads

Shaurya and the Army's variant of the Prithvi missile family – the Prithvi-I. Additional variants of the Agni missile series have recently been inducted including the most recent, the Agni-IV[8] and the Agni-V, which is currently being deployed.[9] Agni-VI is also under development, with an estimated range of 8,000–12,000 km and features such as Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs) or Maneuverable reentry vehicles (MARVs).[10][11]

The Agni-V ballistic missile at Republic Day parade.

The Prithvi missile inducted into India’s Strategic Forces Command in 2003, the first missile to be developed under India’s prestigious IGMDP strengthens India’s nuclear deterrence A missile unit of the elite Strategic Forces Command (SFC) successfully launched a Prithvi missile on 7 January 2014 from the test range at Chandipur.[12]

It was reported by Hindustan Times on 12 September 2010 that to increase its lethal power, India's tri-services strike force is planning to acquire 40 fighter planes capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The SFC has submitted a proposal to the Defence Ministry for setting up two dedicated squadrons of fighter aircraft which will act as a mini-Air Force. This will be the first time that the SFC, which at present depends on the Indian Air Force for delivering nuclear weapons under its command, will have its own aerial assets.[13]

Land-based ballistic missiles
Name Type Range (km) Status
Prithvi-I   Short-range ballistic missile 150 Deployed
Prithvi-II   Short-range ballistic missile 250–350
Prithvi-III   Short-range ballistic missile 350–600
Agni-I Medium-range ballistic missile 700
Shaurya
Medium-range ballistic missile 700-1900
Agni-II Medium-range ballistic missile 2,000–3,000
Agni-III Intermediate-range ballistic missile 3,500–5,000
Agni-IV Intermediate-range ballistic missile 4000
Agni-V Intercontinental ballistic missile 5,000–8,000
Agni-VI Intercontinental ballistic missile & MIRV 8,000–12,000 Under development
Agni-P Medium-range ballistic missile 1,000–2,000 Under Testing
Surya Intercontinental ballistic missile & MIRV 12,000–16,000 Unconfirmed

Air-launched nuclear weapons

Mirage 2000
of the Indian Air Force is believed to be assigned the nuclear strike role, operating from Maharajpur Air Force Station.

Nuclear-armed fighter-bombers were India's first and only nuclear-capable strike force until 2003, when the country's first land-based nuclear ballistic missiles were fielded.[6]

In addition to their ground-attack role, it is believed that the Dassault Mirage 2000s and SEPECAT Jaguars of the Indian Air Force are able to provide a secondary nuclear-strike role.[14] The SEPECAT Jaguar was designed to be able to carry and deploy nuclear weapons and the Indian Air Force has identified the jet as being capable of delivering Indian nuclear weapons.[15] The most likely delivery method would be the use of bombs that are free-falling and unguided.[16]

Three airbases with four squadrons of Mirage 2000H (about 16 aircraft with 16 bombs from 1st and 7th squadrons of the 40th Wing at

Maharajpur Air Force Station) and Jaguar IS/IB (about 32 aircraft with 32 bombs from one squadron each at Ambala Air Force Station and Gorakhpur Air Force Station) aircraft, are believed to be assigned the nuclear strike role.[6]

Sea-based ballistic missile

K-15 Sagarika SLBM

The Indian Navy has developed two sea-based delivery systems for nuclear weapons, completing Indian ambitions for a nuclear triad, which may have been deployed in 2015.[17][18]

A conceptual drawing of INS Arihant

The first is a submarine-launched system consisting of at least four 6,000 tonne (

DRDO is also working on a submarine-launched ballistic missile version of the Agni-III missile, known as the Agni-III SL. According to Indian defence sources, the Agni-III SL will have a range of 3,500 kilometres (2,200 mi).[25]
The new missile will complement the older and less capable Sagarika submarine-launched ballistic missiles. However, the Arihant class ballistic missile submarines will be only capable of carrying a maximum of four Agni-III SL.

The second is a ship-launched system based around the short range ship-launched Dhanush ballistic missile (a variant of the

Sukanya class patrol craft). INS Subhadra was modified for the test and the missile was launched from the reinforced helicopter deck. The results were considered partially successful.[26] In 2004, the missile was again tested from INS Subhadra and this time the results were reported successful.[27] In December 2005 the missile was tested again, but this time from the destroyer INS Rajput. The test was a success with the missile hitting the land based target.[28]

Sea-based ballistic missiles
Name Type Range (km) Status
Dhanush
Short-range ballistic missile 350 Operational[29]
Sagarika (K-15)   Submarine-launched ballistic missile 700 Operational
K-4
Submarine-launched ballistic missile 3,500 Serial Production[30]
K-5 Submarine-launched ballistic missile 5,000 Under Development[31]
K-6 Submarine-launched ballistic missile 6,000 Under Development[32]

List of commanders

List of Commanders-in-Chief of Strategic Forces Command
S.No Rank Name Branch Assumed office Left office Notes
1 Air Marshal Tej Mohan Asthana  Indian Air Force 10 January 2003 30 June 2004 First C-in-C.[33]
2 Ajit Bhavnani 12 July 2004 18 August 2005 Later served as Vice Chief of the Air Staff (India).[34][35]
3 Avinash Deodata Joshi 22 August 2005 31 December 2006 [36]
4
Vice Admiral
Vijay Shankar  Indian Navy December 2006 30 September 2008 Later served as Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command.[37]
5
Lieutenant General
Balraj Singh Nagal  Indian Army 30 September 2008 December 2010 [38][39]
6 Air Marshal Kughikombil Joseph Mathews  Indian Air Force 1 January 2011 31 October 2012 [40]
7
Vice Admiral
Surinder Pal Singh Cheema  Indian Navy 1 November 2012 June 2014 Later served as
Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command. [41]
8
Lieutenant General
Amit Sharma  Indian Army 13 June 2014 31 July 2016 [42][43]
9 Air Marshal Jasbir Walia  Indian Air Force 1 August 2016 30 March 2019
10 Navkaranjit Singh Dhillon 30 March 2019 31 January 2021
11 Rajesh Kumar 31 January 2021 31 August 2021 [44][45]
12
Vice Admiral
R B Pandit
 Indian Navy 31 August 2021 30 September 2023 [46]
13 Suraj Berry 6 October 2023 Present [47]

See also

Integrated entities
Assets
General concepts

References

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