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Tactical Nuclear Weapons or TNW as seen through the Cold War lens are weapons with lesser yields or shorter ranges as compared to strategic weapons meant for counter value and counter force targets. During the East-West conflict these weapons were located in advance positions for use on the European battlefield to deter or counter a Soviet invasion. To rival these, the Soviets developed a whole range of their own TNW. Some of these weapons are still deployed in Europe and form part of the non-deployed arsenals of US and Russian nuclear forces. Ever since Pakistan introduced the battlefield range Nasr/Hatf IX ballistic missile a few years ago, it has been criticized for triggering a new arms race in the region. Pakistan‟s security establishment regards all kinds of nuclear weapons as guarantors against a growing existential threat. Initially it was argued that the term TNW did not necessarily hold true in the context of the South Asian subcontinent, where all nuclear weapons irrespective of ranges or yields are basically weapons of deterrence but, subsequently, it was argued that these missiles were part of the concept of Full Spectrum Deterrence. Under this arrangement, the TNW covered the immediate battlefield to deter the short sharp thrusts at multiple points below the perceived nuclear threshold within the framework of the Cold Start Doctrine (CSD). Combined together, a mix of short and long range missiles is also expected to find a chink in the Indian Ballistic Missile Defense Shield (BMDS) system. This paper examines in an objective manner the Pakistani motivations to pursue this developmental strategy and why it will persist with it.

Dr. Tughral Yamin. (2015) Tactical Nuclear Weapons (TNW) – The Pakistani Perspective, IPRI Journal, Volume-15, Issue-2.
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