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Indian, Pak nuke site photos on the Web

Nitish S Rele in Tampa

WHAT: High-resolution photographs of Indian and Pakistan nuclear weapon facilities.

WHERE: www.fas.org

No, this is no joke. The Federation of American Scientists recently obtained the photographs from the Space Imaging Corporation's IKONOS satellite to release on its Web site. Also available are declassified photos of Israeli nuclear facilities.

"It is evident simply from looking at the satellite imagery we have released thus far that India and Pakistan have invested substantial resources in their nuclear and missile programmes," FAS space policy project director John Pike told rediff.com

"Consequently, it is rather unlikely that the current American goal of rolling back these programmes will succeed any time soon."

The focus of the nuclear facilities in India is the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre at Trombay near Bombay, which has been known to have facilities for weapons design, plutonium production and separation, conversion of fissile materials, etc. The photographs aren't earth-shattering, however.

On the other hand, the Hyderabad Defence Research Complex at Kanchanbagh has been expanded. "The missile development and production facilities turned out to be rather larger and more elaborate than we had expected, and certainly much more extensive than one would have imagined from published reports," said Pike.

The images confirm that the Hyderabad complex has erected a larger facility dedicated to ground-based stress testing and flight simulations involving actual missile components.

As for Pakistan, satellite images indicate that the Khushab reactor is nearing completion. Also, Pakistan has built a dozen garages for mobile missile launchers and associated logistics support vehicles near the Sargodha Central Ammunition Depot.

The uranium production facility at Kahuta has been significantly expanded over the last 10 years. "Evidently, within the past year or two, the facility has also added a missile testing complex for the Ghauri medium-range missile," said Pike.

The Israeli nuclear facility photographs are old and declassified because of a 1997 law barring the commercial acquisition of photographs by American-owned companies. But the West Asian country is believed to possess up to 400 nuclear warheads.

The FAS Web site reported that at the Sedot Mikha base near Tel Aviv, the Israeli Air Force has three squadrons equipped with up to 50 Jericho I nuclear-tipped intermediate-range ballistic missiles.

The search for more high-resolution photographs of nuclear facilities is not over yet. "We are conducting a campaign to cover the nuclear and missile facilities of countries around the world, and hope to have additional imagery of North Korea, India, Pakistan, Israel and Iran on our Web site over the next several months," said Pike.

The FAS space policy project director believes that "everyone would be better served if the United States worked towards more realistic goals of working with India and Pakistan to reduce the risk that these weapons might actually be used, particularly through working to reduce the risks of failure of command and control systems".

The FAS was founded in 1945 by members of the Manhattan Project, who produced the first atom bomb, to address the implications of the nuclear age. The non-profit policy organisation conducts analysis and advocacy on science, technology and public policy, including national security, nuclear weapons, arms sales, biological hazards, secrecy and space policy.

It is located in Washington, DC, and is just two blocks from the US Senate office buildings. The Web site is www.fas.org

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