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Introduction Profile

Profile



Military branches:
Indian Army, Indian Navy (including naval air arm), Air Force, various security or paramilitary forces (includes Border Security Force, Assam Rifles, Rashtriya Rifles and National Security Guard "Blackcat" commandos) and the Strategic Forces Command.

The Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces is the President of India, Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam.

Military manpower - military age 17 years of age (2004 est.)
Military manpower - availability males age 15-49: 293,677,117 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service males age 15-49: 172,153,371 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually males: 11,174,415 (2004 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure $14,018.8 million (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 2.4% (2003)

Military Branches of India
Strategic Nuclear Command

The Highest Award given by the Military of India is the Param Vir Chakra.


MILITARY CAPABILITIES

NAVY
STRENGTH 55,500, including 5,000 Naval Air Arms and 1,000 Marines
SUBMARINE 17
AIRCRAFT CARRIER 1
DESTROYER 8
FRIGATE 9
CORVETTE 24
FAST ATTACK CRAFT MISSILE 2
AIR FORCE
STRENGTH 150,000
FIGHTER   M iG-21MF/FL/bis, MiG-23MF/BN,
MiG-29, Su-30MKI, Mirage 2000H
STRIKE Su-30MKI, Mirage 2000H, Jaguar IM
CLOSE SUPPORT MiG-21M, MiG-23MF, Mirage 2000H,
Jaguar S(I), MiG-27ML
RECONNAISSANCE Canberra PR-57/67, Jaguar, MiG-25R/U, MiG-21R
TRANSPORT Il-76, An-32, BAe Hs.748, Do-228
ARMY
STRENGTH  1,100,000 (300,000 first-line reserves within five
years full-time service; a further 500,000 have commitment until age 50)
INFANTRY RAPID division (two infantry and one mechanised brigade) × 4
Infantry division × 18
Mountain division × 9
Independent infantry brigade × 15
Independent parachute brigade × 1
Mountain brigade × 2
ARMOUR Armoured division × 3
Independent armoured brigade × 6
ARTILLERY Artillery division × 1
Independent artillery brigade × 15
AIR DEFENCE Air defence brigade × 4
OTHERS Engineer brigade × 6
SSM (Prithvi) regiment × 1

Note:
A number of units outlined above are specialists in mountain warfare, desert warfare, water borne and anti-hijacking operations.


110,000 (8/98)
0.10 per 1000 people
3%
1,303,000
1.24 per 1000 people
980,000 (8/98)
0.93 per 1000 people
Army, Navy (including naval air arm), Air Force, Strategic Nuclear Command (SNC), Coast Guard, various security or paramilitary forces (including Border Security Force, Assam Rifles, Rashtriya Rifles, National Security Guards, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Special Frontier Force, Ladakh Scouts, Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Railway Protection Force, Defense Security Corps, and Indian Reserve Battalions)
$1,064 million
$3.99 per $1.00E+04
$1.01 per person
$1,064 million
$3.99 per $1.00E+04
$1.01 per person
180,000 (2001)
171.47 per 1 million people
$11.52 billion (FY02)
$4.32 per $1.00E+03
$10.97 per person
2.3% (FY02)
288,251,975 (2003 est.)
274.60 per 1000 people
169 million (2003 est.)
160.99 per 1000 people
17 years of age (2003 est.)
11,035,174 (2003 est.)
10.51 per 1000 people
55,000 (8/98)
0.05 per 1000 people
950 tanks
0.03 tanks per $100 million
0.90 tanks per 1 million people
22-Jul-75
12-Nov-82
11 April 1978(a)
7 September 1994(a)
12 March 2002(a)
15 October 1999(a)
12-Nov-82
22-Mar-95
$452 thousand
$0.00 thousand per $1 million
$0.00 thousand per 1000 people
10,538,000 (2001)
10039.05 per 1 million people
Although some intelligence estimates suggest that India possesses biological weapons, there is very limited open-source information available about a possible Indian biological weapon program. India has defensive biological weapon capabilities and has conducted research on countering various diseases, including plague, brucellosis, and smallpox. India also has an extensive and advanced pharmaceutical industry and is therefore technically capable of developing biological weapons. India ratified the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention (BWC) in 1974.
Excerpts from the Chemical and Biological Weapons Terrorism Listserv
 
0 per $
0 per people
After many years of denying the existence of a chemical weapon program, India disclosed in June 1997 that it possessed chemical weapons. Few details are publicly available concerning Indian chemical weapon stockpiles, although Chinese researchers suggest that India possesses 1,000 tons of chemical weapon agents, mostly mustard agent, located at five chemical weapon production and storage facilities. Under the terms of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which India signed in 1993 and ratified in September 1996, India must destroy 45 percent of its stockpile by 2004 and the remaining stockpile by 2007.
Excerpts from the Chemical and Biological Weapons Terrorism Listserv
 
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For almost two decades, India has sought to develop and deploy ballistic and other missiles. User trials of the Prithvi-1 (150 km-range) and Prithvi-2 (250 km-range) ballistic missiles have been completed; both variants have been "inducted" into the Indian Army and Air Force respectively. India's Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) announced in September 2002 that the naval variant of the Prithvi (Dhanush) has completed sea trials and is ready for "induction." Five tests of different versions of the intermediate-range Agni ballistic missile were conducted between May 1989 and January 2001. Limited series production of the Agni-TD-I (1,500 km-range) and Agni-II (2,000-2,500 km-range) has commenced, and the Indian Army is raising a missile group to take possession of the missiles. In January 2003, DRDO conducted a second test of the single-stage, solid-fuel, 700-800 km-range version of the Agni. This new missile has been dubbed the Agni-1; it will be the likely successor to the Prithvi-series, which will henceforth be used in a battlefield support role. India reportedly will test a 3,500-4,000 km-range variant of the Agni (Agni-III) by the end of 2003. 'Development flight-trials' of the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos/PJ-10, which India is co-developing with Russian assistance, are likely to continue through 2003, with serial production expected to begin in 2004. However, India's sea-launched ballistic missile, Sagarika, is not expected to become operational before 2010. India is not a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR); in November 2002, it rejected a draft of the International Code of Conduct (ICOC) on ballistic missile proliferation on grounds that it is discriminatory and interferes with the peaceful uses of space technology.
Excerpts from the Nuclear and Missile Developments Database
 
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India embarked on a nuclear power program in 1958 and a nuclear explosives program in 1968. Following a test of a nuclear device in May 1974, and five additional nuclear weapon-related tests in May 1998, India formally declared itself a nuclear weapon state. New Delhi's stock of weapons-grade plutonium is estimated to be between 240-395kg, which depending on the sophistication of the warhead design, could be used to manufacture 40-90 simple fission weapons. According to Indian government sources, India is capable of building a range of nuclear weapon systems ranging from "…low yields to 200 kilotons, involving fission, boosted-fission, and two-stage thermonuclear designs." India is not a member of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
Excerpts from the Nuclear and Missile Developments Database
 
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0 per people
  [Go to Top]
Sources
www.india-emb.org.eg

www4.janes.com

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