Editing Pakistan Armed Forces (section)

==Nuclear weapons==
{{Main|Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction|Nuclear doctrine of Pakistan|N-deterrence|Youm-e-Takbir|Strategic Plans Division Force}}

Pakistan's development of [[nuclear weapons]] began in 1972, following the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971]], with the government adopting a [[policy of deliberate ambiguity]] which was practised and observed from 1972 to 1998.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cheema|first=Pervaiz Iqbal|date=2011|title=Anatomizing Pakistan's Motivations for Nuclear Weapons|journal=Pakistan Horizon|volume=64|issue=2|page=10| jstor=24711174 |issn=0030-980X}}</ref> Amid pressure built after [[Pokhran-II|India's nuclear test]] in 1998, Pakistan successfully conducted its first publicly announced nuclear tests in 1998: [[Chagai-I]] and [[Chagai-II]].<ref name="New York University Press" /> With these tests, Pakistan became the seventh nation to achieve the status of a nuclear power.<ref name="Brookings Institution Press, Riedel">{{cite book|last1=Riedel|first1=Bruce|title=Avoiding Armageddon: America, India, and Pakistan to the brink and back|date=2013|publisher=Brookings Institution Press, Riedel|location=Washington D.C .|isbn=978-0-8157-2408-7}}</ref>[[File:4 Babur Cruise Missiles on a Truck at IDEAS 2008.jpg|thumb|The [[Babur (cruise missile)|Babur missile system]] deployed in IDEAS 2008 convention in 2008.|301x301px]]

Under a public policy guidance, strategic weapons and projects are researched and developed entirely by civilian scientists and engineers, who also develop a wide range of delivery systems. On military policy issues, Pakistan issues directives towards "[[Pre-emptive nuclear strike|first use]]"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nti.org/f_wmd411/f2i3.html|title=The Nuclear Doctrines of India and Pakistan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927003311/http://www.nti.org/f_wmd411/f2i3.html |archive-date=27 September 2007 |date=November 2006|publisher=[[Nuclear Threat Initiative]]}}</ref> and maintains that its [[Pakistan and its Nuclear Deterrent Program|program]] is based on [[Nuclear deterrence theory|nuclear deterrence]], to peacefully discourage attack by India and other countries with large conventional-force advantages over Pakistan.<ref>{{cite news |last=Qadir |first=Shaukat |date=8 February 2003 |title=Nuclear war in South Asia |url=http://archives.dailytimes.com.pk/editorial/08-Feb-2003/nuclear-war-in-south-asia |newspaper=[[Daily Times (Pakistan)|Daily Times]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304022546/http://archives.dailytimes.com.pk/editorial/08-Feb-2003/nuclear-war-in-south-asia |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=27 June 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> According to United States military sources, Pakistan has achieved survivability in a possible [[Indo-Pakistani Nuclear conflict|nuclear conflict]] through [[second strike capability]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/11-pakistan-enhances-second-strike-n-capability--us-report--il--12 |title=World &#124; Pakistan enhances second strike N-capability: US report |work=Dawn |location=Pakistan |access-date=21 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721120736/http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/11-pakistan-enhances-second-strike-n-capability--us-report--il--12 |archive-date=21 July 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> Since the early 1990s, Pakistan's nuclear strategists have emphasised attaining "second strike" capability in spite of their "first use" policy.<ref name="Read How You Want">{{cite book|last1=Abernethy|first1=Mark|title=Second strike|date=2011|publisher=Read How You Want|location=[Sydney, N.S.W.]|isbn=978-1-4596-0375-2|edition=EasyRead large print}}</ref> Statements and physical actions by Pakistan have cited the survivability through a second strike, forming a naval-based [[command and control]] system to serve as "the custodian of the nation's second-strike capability."<ref name="Nuclear Threat Initiatives, NTI">{{cite web |title=Pakistan Cites Second-Strike Capability|url=http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/pakistani-navy-announcement-seen-sign-second-strike-capability/|access-date=1 January 2015|website=Nuclear Threat Initiative|date=24 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101114826/http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/pakistani-navy-announcement-seen-sign-second-strike-capability/|archive-date=1 January 2015}}</ref>

In January 2000, the head of United States Central Command, General [[Anthony Zinni]], told [[NBC]] that longtime assumptions that India had an edge in the South Asian strategic balance of power were questionable at best. Said Zinni: "Don't assume that the Pakistanis' nuclear capability is inferior to the Indians".<ref name="Dawn Archives January 2000">{{cite news|last=Haider|first=Moin|title=Pakistan has edge over India in Nuclear Capability|url=http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/2000/jun10.html#hase|access-date=23 December 2012|newspaper=Dawn Archives January 2000|date=10 January 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015175639/http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/2000/jun10.html#hase|archive-date=15 October 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Despite international pressure, Pakistan has refused to sign either the [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]] or the [[Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty]]. Initiatives taken towards consolidating strategic infrastructure led to the establishment, in 2000, of the [[National Command Authority (Pakistan)|National Command Authority]] (NCA), which oversees the policy, military control, development, and deployment of the country's tactical and strategic nuclear arsenals. The command and control of the strategic arsenal are kept under an inter-service strategic command{{clarify|date=January 2017}} which reports directly at the [[Joint Staff Headquarters (Pakistan)|Joint staff HQ]].<ref name="Shaheen Foundation-A" />

Since its establishment in 2000, the chairperson of the NCA has been the Prime Minister of Pakistan.<ref name="United States Congress Publications, Paul K. Kerr"/> The NCA supervises and forms a tight control of the strategic organisations related to the research and development in [[Weapons of Mass Destruction]] (WMD).<ref name="United States Congress Publications, Paul K. Kerr"/> Pakistan has an extremely strict [[Nuclear command and control|command and control]] system over its strategic assets, which is based on [[Command and control|C4ISTAR]] (Command, Control, Communications, and Computing of Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance).<ref name="United States Congress Publications, Paul K. Kerr">{{cite book|last1=Kerr|first1=Paul K.|last2=Nikiten|first2=Mary K.|title=Pakistan's Nuclear Weapons: Proliferations and Safety issues|date=2010|publisher=United States Congress Publications, Paul K. Kerr|location=Washington D.C. [u.s.]|isbn=978-1-4379-2194-6|page=20|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OcwdPLSJncMC&q=naval+strategic+force+command&pg=PA9|access-date=1 January 2015|chapter-format=Google Books|chapter=§Command and Control|archive-date=5 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205200144/https://books.google.com/books?id=OcwdPLSJncMC&q=naval+strategic+force+command&pg=PA9|url-status=live}}</ref> Pakistan's strategic command structure has a three-tier system which forms by combining the [[National Command Authority (Pakistan)|National Command Authority]], Strategic Plans Division and each of three Inter-Services strategic force commands. The SPD's own force called [[Strategic Plans Division Force|SPD Force]] is responsible for security of nuclear weapons while the strategic forces commands of the [[Air Force Strategic Command (Pakistan)|air force]], [[Army Strategic Forces Command (Pakistan)|army]], and [[Naval Strategic Forces Command (Pakistan)|navy]] exercise the deployments and eventual usage of the WMDs.<ref name="United States Congress Publications, Paul K. Kerr"/> However, the executive decisions, operational planning's, and controls over the WMDs remains vested with the NCA under the [[Prime Minister of Pakistan]].<ref name="United States Congress Publications, Paul K. Kerr"/>