The Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) of India is the nodal agency for all command, control and operational decisions regarding India's nuclear weapon stockpile.

Introduction

Manmohan Singh the current Prime minister of India heads the NCA

On January 4, 2003, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) constituted the Political Council and the Executive Council of the NCA. The Executive Council, chaired by National Security Advisor (NSA) gives the inputs to the Political Council, which authorises a nuclear attack when deemed necessary. The Political Council is chaired by the Prime Minister, and advised by the Executive Council, chaired by the NSA. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 389 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (777 × 1196 pixel, file size: 345 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 389 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (777 × 1196 pixel, file size: 345 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... // He was born on 26 September 1932, in Gah, Punjab (now in district Chakwal, Pakistan). ... January 4 is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The National Security Advisor (NSA) of India is a member of the National Security Council (NSC), and the primary advisor to the Prime Minister, the Indian Cabinet and the NSC on internal and international security issues. ... The Prime Minister of India is, in practice, the most powerful person in the government of India. ...

Their directives are to be operationalised by a new Strategic Forces Command under the control of a Commander-in-Chief of the rank of Air Marshal (or its equivalent) in charge of the management and administration of the tactical and strategic nuclear forces. On January 6, 2003, the Government of India announced the creation of a new Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) responsible for the management of India’s tactical and strategic nuclear weapons. ...

The NCA may be seen as the first stage in the development of an effective and robust Command-and-Control (C²) and Indications-and-Warning (I&W) systems and infrastructure for its strategic nuclear forces.

The anatomy of nuclear attack

Delivery of weapons

Main article: India and weapons of mass destruction#Delivery Systems

An Agni-II intermediate range ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear payload upto 2000 Km(Photo: Antônio Milena/ABr)

The current status of delivery systems for Indian nuclear weapons is unclear and highly classified. India has developed and tested nuclear weapons that could be delivered on the Prithvi and Agni missiles, although its extent and operational preparedness in this respect remains unclear. Since India probably had nuclear weapons prior to the availability of these missiles, it is probable that the current Indian nuclear weapons inventory includes weapons designed for delivery using aircraft. One or more of the following aircraft types might be used for this purpose. There are no open-source reports suggesting which if any of these aircraft have been equipped to deliver air-dropped atomic weapons. The MiG-27 and the Jaguar were originally designed to perform ground attack missions, and would require only modest modification to deliver nuclear weapons. The Indian Air Force also operates several other older and less capable types of ground-attack which would seem rather less likely candidates for delivering nuclear weapons. The MiG-29, Su-30 and Mirage 2000 were originally designed to perform air-to-air combat missions, though they could potentially be modified to deliver air-dropped nuclear weapons. India is believed to possess a arsenal of nuclear weapons and maintains intermediate-range ballistic missiles to deliver them. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2870x1854, 958 KB) An Indian Agni-II intermediate range ballistic missile on a road-mobile launcher, displayed at the Republic Day Parade on New Delhis Rajpath, January 26, 2004. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2870x1854, 958 KB) An Indian Agni-II intermediate range ballistic missile on a road-mobile launcher, displayed at the Republic Day Parade on New Delhis Rajpath, January 26, 2004. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... Prithvi (pá¹›thivÄ«) is the Hindu earth-god. ... Chinese Wood (木) | Fire (火) Earth (土) | Metal (金) | Water (æ°´) Japanese Earth (地) | Water (æ°´) | Fire (火) | Air / Wind (風) | Void / Sky / Heaven (空) Hinduism and Buddhism Vayu / Pavan — Air / Wind Agni / Tejas — Fire Akasha — Aether Prithvi / Bhumi — Earth Ap / Jala — Water Agni is a Hindu and Vedic deity. ... The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-27 (NATO reporting name Flogger) is a ground attack aircraft, originally built by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union and later licence-produced in India by Hindustan Aeronautics as the Bahadur (Valiant). It is based on the MiG-23 fighter aircraft, but optimized... The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French ground attack aircraft in service with the Royal Air Force and several export customers, notably the Indian Air Force. ... The Indian Air Force (भारतीय वायु सेना : Bharatiya Vayu Sena) is the air-arm of the Armed Forces of India and has the prime responsibility of conducting aerial warfare and securing the Indian airspace. ... The Mikoyan MiG-29 (NATO reporting name Fulcrum) is a Russian fighter aircraft used in the air superiority role. ... Sukhoi-30 (Nato: Flanker-C) The Sukhoi Su-30 is a military aircraft that was produced by the Russian company Sukhoi in 1996. ... A Mirage 2000 of the Indian Air Force The Mirage 2000 is a French-built multi-role fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. ...

See also

• Strategic Nuclear Command
• India and weapons of mass destruction
• Nuclear Command Authority