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The Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) of India is the nodal agency for all command, control and operational decisions regarding India's nuclear weapon stockpile.
Introduction
On January 4, 2003, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) constituted the Political Council and the Executive Council of the NCA. The Executive Council, chaired by National Security Advisor (NSA) gives the inputs to the Political Council, which authorises a nuclear attack when deemed necessary. The Political Council is chaired by the Prime Minister, and advised by the Executive Council, chaired by the NSA.
Their directives are to be operationalised by a new Strategic Forces Command under the control of a Commander-in-Chief of the rank of Air Marshal (or its equivalent) in charge of the management and administration of the tactical and strategic nuclear forces.
The NCA may be seen as the first stage in the development of an effective and robust Command-and-Control (C2) and Indications-and-Warning (I&W) systems and infrastructure for its strategic nuclear forces.
The anatomy of nuclear attack
| Code | Stage | Detail |
| FADE OUT or PEACETIME OPS | Stage 5 | The nuclear core is kept in secure and concealed storage facilities managed by the Atomic Energy Commission. The army trains with the Prithvi and Agni with dummy warheads and the air force practises toss bombing manoeuvres. |
| DOUBLE TAKE | Stage 4 | If the army goes on full alert, then some of the nuclear cores are mated to the warhead by the Defence Research and Development Organisation. Strike plans are reviewed. |
| ROUND HOUSE | Stage 3 | As the alert levels increase, the warhead is mated to the missile and the army begins to chalk out operational plans for moving it into launch positions. Plans for next higher condition are readied and reviewed. But no measures will be taken that are proactive. |
| FAST PACE | Stage 2 | Preliminary action is taken to permit the most rapid transition to maximum readiness, if necessary. The missiles may be moved to launch positions. |
| COCKED PISTOL | Stage 1 |
It is a maximum state of readiness posture and the highest state of preparedness to execute strike plans. Targets are decided upon and a launch is imminent. Clearance is awaited for the encrypted code that would give the order from the prime minister to fire. |
Delivery of weapons
- Main article: Indian nuclear weapon delivery systems
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The current status of delivery systems for Indian nuclear weapons is unclear and highly classified. India has developed and tested nuclear weapons that could be delivered on the Prithvi and Agni missiles, although its extent and operational preparedness in this respect remains unclear. Since India probably had nuclear weapons prior to the availability of these missiles, it is probable that the current Indian nuclear weapons inventory includes weapons designed for delivery using aircraft. One or more of the following aircraft types might be used for this purpose. There are no open-source reports suggesting which if any of these aircraft have been equipped to deliver air-dropped atomic weapons. The MiG-27 and the Jaguar were originally designed to perform ground attack missions, and would require only modest modification to deliver nuclear weapons. The Indian Air Force also operates several other older and less capable types of ground-attack which would seem rather less likely candidates for delivering nuclear weapons. The MiG-29, Su-30 and Mirage 2000 were originally designed to perform air-to-air combat missions, though they could potentially be modified to deliver air-dropped nuclear weapons. Plans are also on for the delivery of nuclear weapons via the under construction Advanced Technology Vessel using the SLBM/SLCM Sagarika
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