Military power of Pakistan & Russia

Pakistan is one of several nations that are not the part of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Yet, the Pakistani government managed to acquire nuclear warheads, or at least it is believed so. The entire pursuit for nuclear power began at the beginning of 1970s. It was back then, when Western Powers heard about Pakistan efforts of developing nuclear weapons. At the beginning the government established first nuclear power plant. It was located near Karachi. Noteworthy is the fact that it was possible due to the help of Western nations, which provided Pakistan with necessary equipment and materials. Later on, the president of Pakistan said that the main goal of Pakistan is to construct nuclear weapons. It was a response to India’s claim that they are capable of building nuclear weapons.

Although throughout the 1970s and at the beginning of 1980s there were little facts regarding Pakistan’ nuclear capabilities, there were rumours that from the mid-1980s, Pakistan already had a few warheads. However, it was only in 1998 that Pakistan decided to conduct their first nuclear tests. There were 6 tests and they were the response to 5 tests that India conducted several weeks before Pakistan.

The second most important state when it comes to researching, developing, and then storing nuclear weapon. Although the Russians managed to catch up with Americans later on, it was only in 1949 that the first nuclear test conducted by then the Soviet Union occurred. It was still quite a surprise for the Western Powers, who believed that Russia won’t be capable of producing nuclear warheads until 1953-1954. After the first test, the nation in question started to rapidly increase the amount of warheads they possessed. In the end of 1980s, they were the leading power when it comes to total number of warheads stored. It was approximately 40,000 warheads.

Nowadays, similarly to United States, the Russians store a total number of 6490 warheads, what is scarcely more than USA. When it comes to the number of deployed warheads, the amount is the same as in case of Americans, namely 1600 deployed warheads. We should also remember about the fact that Russia conducted over 700 tests, what makes them the second most important nation when it comes to developing nuclear weapons. However, it was the Soviet Union that managed to create the biggest bomb in the world. Known as Tsar Bomba, it had blast yield of 50 megatons of TNT.

16-23 years of age for voluntary military service; soldiers cannot be deployed for combat until age 18; the Pakistani Air Force and Pakistani Navy have inducted their first female pilots and sailors; the Pakistan Air Force recruits aviation technicians at age 15; service obligation (Navy) 10-18 years; retirement required after 18-30 years service or age 40-52.

18-27 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service; males are registered for the draft at 17 years of age; 1-year service obligation (conscripts can only be sent to combat zones after 6 months of training); reserve obligation for non-officers to age 50; enrollment in military schools from the age of 16, cadets classified as members of the armed forces.