A great new publication for SSBN-submarine and nuclear deterrence aficionados is:
“The Future of the Undersea Deterrent: A Global Survey”. Edited by Rory Medcalf, Katherine Mansted, Stephan Frühling and James Goldrick. Published by ANU National Security College; February 2020, downloadable for free at
https://nsc.crawford.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/publication/nsc_crawford_anu_edu_au/2020-02/the_future_of_the_undersea_deterrent.pdf
[Summary]
"Amid rapid geopolitical change at the start of the 2020s, nuclear weapons manifest grim continuity with the previous century. Especially persistent is a capability that has existed since the 1960s: the deployment of nuclear weapons on submarines. The ungainly acronym SSBN represents nuclearpowered ballistic missile submarines: the most destructive armaments carried on a supposedly undetectable, and thus invulnerable, platform.
In the new nuclear age, many nations are investing in undersea nuclear deterrence. In the IndoPacific region (the centre of strategic contestation), four major powers – the United States, China, India [see details below] and Russia – have SSBN programs, while Pakistan and North Korea are pursuing more rudimentary forms of submarine-launched nuclear [SSB] firepower. This complex maritime-nuclear dynamic brings deterrence but also great risk. Yet the intersection of undersea nuclear forces, antisubmarine warfare (ASW), geostrategic competition, geography, and technological change is not well understood. This has a major bearing on peace and security, in terms both of crisis stability and arms race stability.
To illuminate these critical issues, the National Security College at The Australian National University, with the support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, is conducting an international research project on strategic stability in the Indo-Pacific. The project’s focus is on new technologies and risks relating to undersea warfare and nuclear deterrence over a twenty year timeframe. The present volume is the project’s second publication, bringing together the insights of leading international scholars and next-generation experts to produce a comprehensive and authoritative reference. The edited volume examines the interplay of strategic issues, including nuclear strategy and deterrence; maritime operational issues, including ASW; and technology issues, including new and disruptive technologies and potential game-changers in relation to deterrence.
This volume represents a significant contribution to the field of nuclear deterrence and strategic stability. Its 22 authors span seven countries, and reflect world-leading academic and operational experience across nuclear strategy, deterrence and arms control, maritime operations, and the trajectory of emerging technologies.
This volume will help to advance critical conversations about undersea nuclear deterrence in the Indo-Pacific – a region of intensifying complexity, and uncertainty – and is of value to the policymakers and governments who must chart a course through these dynamics.
Support for this publication was provided by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York."
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INDIA SPECIFIC CHAPTERS
“The Future of the Undersea Deterrent: A Global Survey”. Edited by Rory Medcalf, Katherine Mansted, Stephan Frühling and James Goldrick. Published by ANU National Security College; February 2020, downloadable for free at
https://nsc.crawford.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/publication/nsc_crawford_anu_edu_au/2020-02/the_future_of_the_undersea_deterrent.pdf
[Summary]
"Amid rapid geopolitical change at the start of the 2020s, nuclear weapons manifest grim continuity with the previous century. Especially persistent is a capability that has existed since the 1960s: the deployment of nuclear weapons on submarines. The ungainly acronym SSBN represents nuclearpowered ballistic missile submarines: the most destructive armaments carried on a supposedly undetectable, and thus invulnerable, platform.
In the new nuclear age, many nations are investing in undersea nuclear deterrence. In the IndoPacific region (the centre of strategic contestation), four major powers – the United States, China, India [see details below] and Russia – have SSBN programs, while Pakistan and North Korea are pursuing more rudimentary forms of submarine-launched nuclear [SSB] firepower. This complex maritime-nuclear dynamic brings deterrence but also great risk. Yet the intersection of undersea nuclear forces, antisubmarine warfare (ASW), geostrategic competition, geography, and technological change is not well understood. This has a major bearing on peace and security, in terms both of crisis stability and arms race stability.
To illuminate these critical issues, the National Security College at The Australian National University, with the support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, is conducting an international research project on strategic stability in the Indo-Pacific. The project’s focus is on new technologies and risks relating to undersea warfare and nuclear deterrence over a twenty year timeframe. The present volume is the project’s second publication, bringing together the insights of leading international scholars and next-generation experts to produce a comprehensive and authoritative reference. The edited volume examines the interplay of strategic issues, including nuclear strategy and deterrence; maritime operational issues, including ASW; and technology issues, including new and disruptive technologies and potential game-changers in relation to deterrence.
This volume represents a significant contribution to the field of nuclear deterrence and strategic stability. Its 22 authors span seven countries, and reflect world-leading academic and operational experience across nuclear strategy, deterrence and arms control, maritime operations, and the trajectory of emerging technologies.
This volume will help to advance critical conversations about undersea nuclear deterrence in the Indo-Pacific – a region of intensifying complexity, and uncertainty – and is of value to the policymakers and governments who must chart a course through these dynamics.
Support for this publication was provided by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York."
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INDIA SPECIFIC CHAPTERS
within “The Future of the Undersea
Deterrent: A Global Survey” at:
on India are:
- Chapter 10 “India’s
Deterrence Posture and the Role of Nuclear Strategy” pages 36-38,
by C. Raja
Mohan
[Dr C. Raja Mohan is Director, Institute of South Asian Studies at the
National University of Singapore. He is one of India’s leading analysts of
India’s foreign policy and an expert on South Asian security, great power
relations in Asia, and arms control. He is the founding Director of the India
Centre of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a foreign affairs
columnist for The Indian Express newspaper and has served as a member of
India’s National Security Advisory Board. He has a Master’s Degree in nuclear
physics and a PhD in international relations. His most recent books are Modi’s
World: Expanding India’s Sphere of Influence (2015) and India’s
Naval Strategy and Asian Security (2016) (co-edited with Anit
Mukherjee). His other books include: Samudra Manthan: Sino-Indian
Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific (2012) and Power Realignments in
Asia: China, India and the United States (2009).]
and
- Chapter 11 “Atoms
for Peace? India’s SSBN Fleet and Nuclear Deterrence” pages 39-42
by Sudarshan Shrikhande
by Sudarshan Shrikhande
[“Rear Admiral Shrikhande retired in 2016 after 36 years in the Indian
Navy. In flag rank he headed Naval Intelligence; was Chief of Staff/SNC; served
in HQIDS and Strategic Forces Command among other positions. He is a graduate
of the Soviet Naval War College in ASW weapon and sonar engineering in 1988;
Indian Staff and Naval War Colleges and of the US NWC in 2003 with highest
distinction. In retirement he teaches strategy formulation, operational art,
force structuring, RMA, China, the Indo-Pacific, the Peloponnesian War,
leadership and ethics in several military as well as civilian institutions. He
writes regularl y for several Indian and foreign organisations. He is
associated with the National Maritime, Vivekananda International and Observer Research
Foundations as well as the Forum for Integrated National Security. He has
participated in Track 1.5 dialogues with China and the US and in a US State
Department Indo-Pacific Dialogue and Simulations conference in Sydney. He is
studying for a PhD in sea-based nuclear deterrence.”]
These are just two chapters in a much broader work for SSBN, submarine and nuclear deterrence scholars
everywhere.
