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Report on Pokharan Site, Missle Test Preparation

Delhi THE ASIAN AGE
19 Dec 95 pp 1, 4

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[FBIS Transcribed Text] London Dec. 18 -- India is preparing to test the Prithvi missile with a conventional warhead to its maximum range of 150 km at Pokharan. It was this activity that the US spy satellite picked up and which intelligence officials suspected as India's preparation for another nuclear test.

Under pressure from the Army and also as a signal to the US that weapons package for Pakistan will inevitably set off an arms race in the subcontinent, India appears to have finally decided to start full scale production of Prithvi missiles. But that can be done only after the end-user is confident of the functioning of the weapons system under field conditions. The Prithvi missile has never been tested on a land target. It has been successfully tested over sea from the Interim Test Range in Orissa up to a range of 68 km on Wheeler Island.

A land test is possible only at Pokharan, where India conducted a nuclear test in 1974 and where an acquired massive range is available for the purpose. The Pokharan range is divided into four parts: range A for artillery firing which needs a maximum open area of 40 km, range B is traditionally for amour exercises, range C is for the Indian Air Force and range D, where the 1974 peaceful nuclear implosion was conducted, is condoned off as restricted area.

The only normal activity at range D is the movement of a few security guards and an engineer platoon of the Army. Scientists are known to move in and out of this area, but the overall activity is minimal. Now with India planning to test Prithvi there, the activity at D range has picked up. US spy satellites spotted this, and leaked it to the media to find out if India was planning a second nuclear test. India strongly denied the report in the New York Times. Both Washington and New Delhi are right -- the former in spotting movement at Pokharan and the latter in saying no nuclear test was being planned.

Senior officers of the Indian artillery had told The Asian Age in June 1994 that the government had cleared firing of a salvo of four Prithvi at Pokharan. This was to be done as part of an exercise to also test the mobility and preparation of the missile under field conditions. The latter is crucial as Prithvi uses a liquid propellant which is highly toxic and corrosive.

The earlier plan to fire at Pokharan was shelved after Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao's visit to Washington in May 1994. The Army was told to cancel the scheduled firing in view of the proximity of the Pokharan ranges to the border with Pakistan. The test was then conducted on June 4, 1994 from the Interim Test Range in Orissa, and was called a user test since instead of scientists the user fired the missile. It is possible India was under US pressure not to test Prithvis on land, although the Prime Minister told the Lok Sabha on 13 June, 1994 that he had not discussed India's missile programme with President Clinton during their meeting in Washington. Senior officers of artillery had told this correspondent in July 1995 that they were not happy with the Prithvi user test under controlled conditions. They had insisted that only tests under real bath field conditions can instill the required level of confidence in the users. [sentence as published]

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