In big shift in stance, India may have 'deployed' 12 N-warheads, its N-warheads up to 190 from 180: SIPRI report

NEW DELHI: A reputed global peace think tank has made the big claim that India may have shifted its nuclear posture to a ready-to-strike mode by deploying 12 warheads on delivery vehicles, including possibly one nuclear submarine. This marks a big change because India had so far kept warheads and delivery systems separately.

When a nuclear warhead is ‘deployed’, it means the nuclear warhead is actively mounted on missiles or loaded onto bombers and, having been mated, is ready for immediate use.



This assessment is part of the latest report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The report also mentioned that the number of India’s nuclear warheads had increased to 190 as of Jan 2026, compared to the earlier 180. However, there is no change in India’s “no first use” policy when it comes to a nuclear attack.

The report said, “It has long been assumed that India stores its nuclear warheads separate from its deployed launchers during peacetime. However, the country’s recent moves towards placing missiles in canisters and conducting sea-based deterrence patrols suggest that India could be shifting in the direction of mating some of its warheads with their launchers in peacetime.

“These (nuclear) weapons were assigned to a maturing nuclear triad of aircraft, land-based missiles and SSBNs (a specialised class of nuclear-powered submarines designed to carry and launch nuclear-armed ballistic missiles). More warheads are thought to be in production for additional missiles,” it said. Based on this assessment, SIPRI estimated that, as of Jan 2026, India may have started to deploy a small number of nuclear warheads on a single SSBN conducting occasional deterrence patrols. Indian Navy currently operates three SSBNs: INS Arihant, INS Arighaat and INS Aridhaman -- the last was reportedly commissioned in April 2026. India’s fourth SSBN—reportedly named INS Arisudan—is expected to enter service in 2027.

As per the report, India’s aircraft (nuclear) launchers are 16 launchers of Jaguar IS (with 16 warheads) and 32 launchers of Mirage 2000Hs (32 warheads). For land-based launches, there are 24 Prithvi II missile launchers (24 warheads), 16 Agni-I (16), 16 Agni-II (16), 16 Agni-III (16), eight Agni-IV (8), and eight Agni-V missiles (with 24 warheads due to multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle-MIRV capability). There are 16 launchers with SLBMs — mostly 12 warheads that can be carried by K15 (B-05) missiles. Besides them, two additional land-based missiles are under development: a medium-range ballistic missile (Agni-P) and an intercontinental ballistic missile (Agni-VI), the report said.

Pakistan's stockpile remains unchanged at approximately 170 warheads. The report said both India and Pakistan continued to develop new types of nuclear weapon delivery systems in 2025, and both are pursuing the capability to deploy multiple warheads on ballistic missiles. India has recently fielded an intermediate-range missile with MIRV capability—Agni-V IRBM. A test launch of the missile in March 2024 reportedly involved MIRV technology and the tracking of ‘multiple re-entry vehicles’.

In January, nine states — US, Russia, the UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel — together possessed 12,187 nuclear weapons, of which 9,745 were in military stockpiles and considered to be potentially operationally available, the report said. Overall, the number of nuclear warheads in the world continues to decline, but this is only due to the US and Russia “dismantling retired warheads,” it said.