The Indian navy has just completed construction of its second nuclear-missile-capable submarine, demonstrating further that a military technology arms race is alive and well among the “nuclear triangle” of nations including India, Pakistan, and China.
India first tested its Agni-V intermediate ballistic missile, which can reach all of China.
As far as SSBN’s go, China recently put to sea its first operational nuclear-missile submarines, which began deterrent patrols at some point last year. In addition, China has added MIRVs — multiple independent reentry vehicles — to its nuclear missiles, which is a tactic India may soon take as well if it hasn’t done so already.
Both India and China have been working on improving their nuclear targeting capabilities using satellite-fed reconnaissance and intelligence. [source]
Pakistan, meanwhile, whose economy does not break the Global Top 10 (China is second; India is fifth) and cannot hope to afford a substantial investment in SSBNs, has instead opted to build a large, mostly land-based nuclear deterrent capability. While Pakistani military officials have discussed developing a sub-based nuclear deterrent capability, it is not thought to have done so yet. [source]
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