We are producing Weapons Grade Plutonium also.

I have found several links saying that a new plant is up and running a pilot project in plutonium producing “a few bombs worth” a year.

That is awesome. I have done my research and it seems most sources place our nuclear number at (lower end) 40~ and (higher end) 75~. I have read as low as 20 and as high as 120! (seriously, I will find the link).

The average seems to be about 60, with India having about 90.

InshaAllah we can soon move this plutonium project fwd fast, and make more, more, more! :smiley:

This is one source, I did note the others…I will look for them.

"Pakistan is believed to have stockpiled approximately 580-800 kg of highly enriched uranium (HEU), sufficient amounts to build 30-50 fission bombs. In 1998, Pakistan commissioned the Khushab research reactor, which is capable of yielding 10-15 kg of weapons-grade plutonium annually. "

It takes about 5-6 kg of Plutonium for a bomb, that makes like an additional 3 a year from Plutonium and with HEU stockpile nukes always rising, we can assume again with logic that its in that 60-75 band.

http://www.nti.org/e_research/e1_pakistan_1.html

http://nuketesting.enviroweb.org/hew/Pakistan/PakArsenal.html

“Since a uranium weapon requires about 15 kg this equates to a potential for 53 weapons (range 44 - 62), although somewhat more than 15 kg may be used to produce more powerful and efficient weapons.”

“April 1998 …Kushab reactor began operating. This reactor should be able to produce around 10-15 kg of plutonium a year at a 60-80% load factor (the fraction of the time the reactor actually operates) [Albright 1998b].”

“Fission weapons require 4-6 kg of plutonium, so 2-7 weapons could have been manufactured from this material.”

Again, 53+7 is 60, or with higher estimates 62+7 is 69.

These are 2001 states, so assume 20kg more has been made, thats another 5~ bombs.

http://www.wisconsinproject.org/countries/pakistan/pakistan%20nuclear%20update.nf.htm

"Islamabad now possesses an arsenal of approximately 30-50 nuclear weapons. "

This site does not take into account Plutonium production and I cant seem to find the 2002 update, that URL is for the 2001 version. :frowning:

http://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/nudb/datab21.asp

"The most careful estimate is that Pakistan has produced enough fissile material for 30-52 nuclear weapons. "

"The 40-50 megawatt thermal Khushab reactor constructed at Joharabad in the Khushab district of Punjab has the capability to produce weapon-grade plutonium that could be used for nuclear weapons. "

I would love it if one of you brothers had a detailed report on the issue of Pak strategic nuclear forces and Plutonium warheads. :slight_smile:

Pakistans Nuclear Forces 2002

Source: http://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/nudb/datab21.asp

NOTES
It is extremely difficult to estimate the number and types of nuclear weapons in the Pakistan arsenal. Outside experts estimate the number at between 24 and 48 nuclear weapons. Their implosion design uses a solid-core of highly enriched uranium rather than plutonium, requiring an estimated 15-20 kg of HEU per warhead. Seismic measurements of the tests conducted on May 28 and 30 suggest that the yields were on the order of 9-12 kilotons and 4-6 kilotons respectively, lower than what the Pakistan government announced. Early Chinese tests in the 1960s used similar designs and it is suspected that the Chinese assisted Pakistan to develop its program in the 1970s and 80s. Over a 20-year period Pakistan pursued a gas centrifuge uranium-enrichment method to produce the material for its nuclear weapons, at what is now known as the Abdul Qadeer Khan Research Laboratories in Kahuta. There is some uncertainty about how many centrifuges Pakistan has and thus how much weapon-grade uranium has been produced. By the early 1990s some 3,000 centrifuges were thought to be operating. The most careful estimate is that Pakistan has produced enough fissile material for 30-52 nuclear weapons. A moratorium on the production of highly enriched uranium was declared in 1991. It is unclear when production resumed but it is thought to have been well before the May 1998 nuclear tests.

Like the other nations that have developed nuclear weapons Pakistan does not seem content with just a first generation nuclear weapon and may be pursuing other designs and refinements. The 40-50 megawatt thermal Khushab reactor constructed at Joharabad in the Khushab district of Punjab has the capability to produce weapon-grade plutonium that could be used for nuclear weapons. Loading the reactor’s target materials with Lithium-6 could produce tritium. Producing plutonium provides the Pakistan military with several options: making weapons with plutonium cores, mixing plutonium with HEU to make composite cores, or using tritium for “boosting.” Separation of the plutonium is reported to take place at the “New Labs” reprocessing plant next to the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH) at Rawalpindi. Through these efforts Pakistan seems to be positioning itself to increase and enhance its nuclear forces significantly in the coming years, especially if they try to match India’s plan to deploy a nuclear triad of “aircraft, mobile land-based missiles and sea-based assets.”

The aircraft in the Pakistani Air Force that is most likely to be used in the nuclear weapon delivery role is the U.S. manufactured F-16, although other aircraft, such as the Mirage V or the Chinese-produced A-5, also could be used. Twenty-eight F-16A (single-seat) and 12 F-16B (two-seat) trainers were delivered to the Pakistani Air Force between 1983 and 1987. At least eight of the original order are no longer in service. In December 1988 Pakistan ordered 11 additional F-16A/Bs as attrition replacements but to date they have not been delivered because of the Pressler Amendment, which forbids military aid to suspected nuclear weapon states. The U.S. Government announced on October 6, 1990 that it had embargoed any further arms deliveries to Pakistan. The 11 embargoed aircraft are being stored in the Arizona desert near Davis-Monthan AFB. In September 1989 plans were announced for Pakistan to acquire 60 more F-16s. Of that order 17 were built by the end of 1994, but because of the embargo they joined the others at Davis-Monthan and have not been delivered. And they are unlikely to be even under the new relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan in the war against terrorism.

The F-16s most likely to have been modified to carry nuclear weapons are deployed with Squadrons 9 and 11 at Sargodha AB, 160 km northwest of Lahore. The F-16 has a range of over 1,600 km, or more if drop tanks are used. It can carry up to 5,450 kg externally on one under-fuselage centerline pylon and six under-wing stations. Given the F-16’s payload constraint of weight and size the bomb probably weighs around 1,000 kg and would most likely be attached to the centerline pylon. The assembled nuclear bombs and/or bomb components for these planes may be stored in a nearby ammunition depot to Sargodha. An alternative possibility is that, fearing a first strike by the Indians if war were to break out, the weapons are stored at other operational or satellite bases further to the west, near the Afghanistan border, where the F-16s would disperse to pick up their bombs. It has also been reported that M-11 missiles may be stored at the depot near Sargodha.

According to Pakistani bomb designer A. Q. Khan, the Ghauri missile is currently the only nuclear-capable missile, although other missiles in the Pakistani armed forces could be configured to carry a nuclear warhead. The single-stage Ghauri I was first flight-tested on April 6, 1998 to a distance of 1,100 km, probably with a payload of up to 700 kg. The missile was reportedly launched near the city of Jhelum in northeastern Pakistan, 100 kilometers southeast of Islamabad, and impacted the target near Quetta in the southwest. The liquid-fuelled Ghauri is basically a North Korean No Dong missile, itself a Scud derivative. A two-stage Ghauri II was tested on April 14, 1999, three days after the Indian Agni II test flight. It was launched from a mobile launcher at Dina, near Jhelum, and landed after an eight-minute flight in Jiwani, near the coast in the southwestern Baluchistan province. A third version of the Ghauri, with an unconfirmed range of 2,500 to 3,000 km is under development and was test launched on August 15, 2000. The choice of the name Ghuari is highly symbolic. Muslim Sultan Muhammad Ghauri defeated the Hindu ruler Prithvi Raj Chauhan in the year 1192. Prithvi is the name India has assigned to its short-range ballistic missiles.

Pakistan obtained approximately 30 or more complete M-11 missiles from China beginning in 1992. Subsequently it has had Chinese assistance in constructing maintenance and storage facilities and may produce its own missile, the Tarmuk, based on the M-11. Pakistan has also reverse-engineered the Chinese M-9 missile. That missile, called the Shaheen-I (Eagle), has a range of 700 km, can carry a payload of 1,000 kg. Pakistan conducted the initial flight test of the Shaheen from the coastal town of Sonmiani on April 15, 1999. The two-stage Shaheen-II medium-range missile, which was unveiled at the Pakistan Day parade on March 23, 2000, is said by the Pakistani government to have a range of 2,500 km and carry a 1,000 kg payload. The missile is carried on a 16-wheel mobile launcher similar to the Russian MAZ-547V used to transport the Soviet Union’s SS-20 prior to 1987. Neither missile is reported to have a nuclear capability at this time, though that could change.

In November 2000 Pakistan placed its key nuclear institutions under the control of the National Command Authority established in February 2000, in an apparent effort to create an effective nuclear command and control system. After the terrorist attacks on September 11 a great deal of attention was focused on the security of the Pakistani arsenal. According to press reports the Pakistani military began relocating nuclear weapon components within two days of the attacks on New York and Washington. One potential danger to the arsenal involves extremist Islamic elements within the intelligence service, the armed forces, the nuclear weapons program, and in the population at large. Musharraf took several actions in the Fall of 2001 to mitigate these problems, including firing his intelligence chief and other officers, detaining several suspected retired nuclear weapon scientists, and redeploying the arsenal to at least six secret new locations.

Go here:

http://www.gupistan.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=84411

Pakistani Nuclear Arsenal 5* the size of India’s?

I have touched upon this issue before, and while most public sources put the figures ion the region of Pakistan 60-75, India 75-100, US military sources suggest that there maybe a radically different nuclear balance of power.

"Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is far larger than previously suspected and may be five times as large as that of India, according to U.S. military and intelligence reports.

Instead of the previous estimates of 10 to 15 nuclear weapons, the new estimate is that Pakistan has built from 25 to 100 bombs and has the missiles and jet planes to deliver them."

That is debateable, but the source, US inteligence, and the fact that ppl of the standing of Gen Anthony Zinni and co support the theory gives it some credit.

“All this, coupled with the recent statement by Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Dr R. Chidambaram that only one of the devices tested in May 1998 was a weapon, has led many to wonder about the credibility of the Indian arsenal.”

Indian scientists have always conceded that Pakistan’s missile programme, being 90 per cent borrowed, was ahead of India’s. If the 1500-km Ghauri is nothing more than a repainted Nodong-2 of North Korea, the 2000-km Ghaznavi is the reincarnation of Taepo Dong, Hatf-2 of China’s M-11 and Hatf-3 of M-9. “Whatever be the source,” pointed out M.V. Rappai of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, “Pakistan has delivery systems which are trusted and tested.” Something which cannot be said about an indigenous programme.

(same URL as above).

Obviously we contest the indigneous production of our missiles, that is not to deny help from states, but the range of sources and expert opinion changes it all.

What do you guys make of this.

We KNOW we have better missies, that is not a question, but if warhead superiority is ours too, we can forgo our conventional forces.

Thanks bro, that was a good article, but one I have read before. I try to stay alert to the happenings in this field, and research it frequently.

Plz read these links, quoting US military Generals and Intelligence officers on the size of our arsenal:

http://www.kashmir-information.com/KashmirChronicle/3_2.html

(Indian source)

100 to like 20!

Other sources are available if you want, I had a copy of the Pak-DPRK report by Dr J Bermudez jnr but my harddrive was wiped…if i can locate it again, I’ll email it to you.

:slight_smile:

This does not captivate you?!

Damn carless people, you'll be the death of me.

It doesn’t work. :frowning:

mo_best,

Thanks for bringing this up to our attention. :jhanda:

You brothers are more then welcome, I take pride in our nuclear achievements, we shook the world. Plus it means India is always wary of us.