The weapons meant never to be used.
The deterrent, the shield and the new frontiers.
No first use. Massive retaliation.
- Doctrine, 2003
- A credible minimum deterrent. No first use. Retaliation will be massive and designed to inflict unacceptable damage. No use against non-nuclear states. A nuclear option against a major biological or chemical attack. PIB, CCS statement, 4 Jan 2003
- Who decides
- The Political Council of the Nuclear Command Authority, chaired by the Prime Minister, is the sole body that can authorise use. PIB, CCS statement, 4 Jan 2003
- Warheads
- About 190 in Jan 2026. China about 620. Pakistan about 170. SIPRI Yearbook 2026 via Drishti
- The triad
- Land: the Agni family. Sea: three SSBNs with the K-4. Air: aircraft-delivered weapons.
Longer reach. A wider umbrella.
- Agni-V MIRV
- Mission Divyastra, 11 Mar 2024: one missile, several warheads, several targets. PMO, 11 Mar 2024
- Agni-Prime
- First launch from a rail-mobile launcher, Sep 2025. Janes, Sep 2025
- Hypersonic
- Long-range anti-ship hypersonic missile, first flight 16 Nov 2024, range over 1,500 km. PIB, 17 Nov 2024
- S-400
- Five regiments ordered in 2018 for about ₹40,000 crore. Three delivered; the last due in 2027. (reported) The Week, 12 Jan 2026
- Mission Sudarshan Chakra
- A national air-defence shield by 2035, announced by the Prime Minister on 15 Aug 2025. PIB Year-End Review 2025
The fourth and fifth domains.
- Mission Shakti
- India shot down its own satellite with a missile on 27 Mar 2019, the fourth country to do so. Janes
- Surveillance satellites
- SBS-3: 52 satellites approved in Oct 2024, 21 by ISRO and 31 by private firms. Drishti, 12 Oct 2024
- GSAT-7R
- The Navy’s new communications satellite, about 4,400 kg, launched on LVM3 in Nov 2025. Drishti, 3 Nov 2025
- Defence Cyber Agency
- Tri-service, set up in 2019, operational since 2021. Carnegie India, 1 Sep 2025