A new US report has been issued covering the state of a number of nations' perceived and estimated short-term Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) programmes. Produced by the USAF's National Air and Space Intelligence Center and published by the Federation of American Scientists, the report covers Iran, North Korea, China, Russia, India and Pakistan, and in this News Item Armed Forces International will summarise each country's coverage in turn.

Iran, according to the study, could develop a long-range ICBM able to strike the US under the right conditions. Describing the country's "missile and space launch development programs" as "ambitious", the report explained that "with sufficient foreign assistance", such a missile could have been built and operationally evaluated by 2015.

Taepodong 2 Missile

In terms of North Korea, the report covers this country's Taepodong 2 missile, which could be given ICBM properties, could also be capable of reaching the US and which "could be exported".

China, meanwhile, is reported as possessing "the most active and diverse ballistic missile program in the world". The deployment of two members of this programme, the DF-31 and DF-31A, is described as now being underway. In terms of the numbers of these two intercontinental ballistic missiles deployed, the report suggests "less than 15", and this supersedes the US DoD's (Department of Defence) previous reckoning that there was "less than 10" of them.

The DF-31 and DF-31A, along with the as yet unfinished JL-2, feature single warheads. However, said the report, they could be adapted to multiple warhead configuration. China's overall ICBM strike capability in terms of missiles with a range inclusive of the US could reach "well over 100" by 2024, although not all of these would be weapons "primarily targeted against the US".

Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles/ SLBMs

Russia, said the study, would likely "...retain the largest ICBM force outside the United States", and the majority of these ICBM were "...maintained on alert, capable of being launched within minutes of receiving a launch order." The country is thought to have a 2,000-strong ICBM inventory, including SLBMs - Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles.

India's deployment of Agni 1 and 2 ICBMs got underway in recent months and, to date, "fewer than 25" of the launching infrastructures required to fire them have been fielded. Elsewhere, it is currently working on a pair of SLBMs named the Sagarika and the Dhanush, stated the report, adding that the former would enter service after 2011. Although separate reports have emerged regarding India's development of a nuclear cruise missile, this missile was not covered in the new US study.

Finally, Pakistan, whose complement of ballistic missile launchers is below 50 in number. Pakistan currently has the Shaheen and Ghaznavi SRBMs (Short-Range Ballistic Missiles) and, while a missile with longer range has been proposed, development has not yet begun.