SLEDGEHAMMER

This is a Short Reality based fictitious account of a future India- Pakistan Nuclear War.I have used real unit names and base locations to describe how a surgical strike to decapitate the Pakistani Military Machine could Rapidly Spiral out of Control into a Brutal Nuclear Conflict within the space of a few hours. All Capabilities and weapons systems described are real to the best of knowledge available from open sources.

All information herein has been gathered from OPSINT sources only.

Nuclear fallout calculated via

http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/

Missile Range Rings via

https://www.freemaptools.com/radius-around-point.htm

Chapter 1

19/03/2022: 0015hrs

The War had begun with an audacious midnight strike 24 hrs. earlier by Pakistan based terrorists into the Indian Army II Corps HQ located in Ambala in the Indian State of Punjab killing 15 Indian Servicemen& Family members and ended only after special forces had killed all 6 terrorists involved .This strike coming only six years after a similar strike had killed 18 Indian Soldiers at Uri incensed the general populace in India and put the Ruling NDA dispensation under heavy public pressure to act. This time there were no endless meetings or discussion, the PM had already given his assent for a military response in case of another strike Post Uri during a meeting held then. This night the PM & Cabinet were being transferred to a Bunker built under the Aravalli hills outside Delhi.Once there the PM signed a few orders as formalities for a military response, recorded a statement that would be played on Indian Channels from 0330hrs and finally on his advisors insistence retired went to rest till 0300hrs.

Brahmos LACM unit

19/03/2022: 0315hrs

The Villagers of SriGanganagar in North Rajasthan and Dolatpar in Gujarat were shaken awake in the early hours by a series of loud booms, they stepped outside their huts to see numerous spirals of smoke rise and snake away to the west. Little did they know they had just heard the sonic booms created by 140 Brahmos missiles as they went supersonic , the Indian Army’s 861 & 862 mobile missile regiments had just launched a punitive Brahmos LACM strike on Pakistani Military bases in Karachi, Hyderabad,Gujranwala,Multan, Lahore & Bahawalpur. Operation Sledgehammer had begun!

 

Pakistani Air Defence FM-90 unit

19/03/2022: 0320hrs

 The Klaxons blared as protective batteries of LOMADS,Crotale’s, Aspide’s and FM-90’s fired furiously trying to bring the incoming missiles down, but this was no ordinary subsonic cruise missile or aircraft these systems were designed to counter. The Brahmos is the fastest cruise missile in active service in any military of the World and there was no way these SAM systems were going to stop many of them from reaching their targets .As many as 110 of the launched 140 missiles slammed home. The units of the Pakistan Army worst hit were

1)    II Corps based at Multan

2)  IV Corps based at Lahore

3)  V Corps based at Karachi

4)  XXX Corps based at Gujranwala

5)   XXXI Corps based at Bahawalpur

6)  1 Armored Division at Multan

7)  6 Armored Division at Gujranwala

8)  PAF Masroor at Karachi

9)  PAF Mushaf at Sargodha

10) PAF Nur Khan Rawalpindi

11)  PAF Faisal Karachi

12) PAF Rafiqui Shorkot

13) Pakistan Naval Headquarters Karachi

14) 22 Artillery Division Sargodha

15) 21 Artillery Division Pano Aqil

19/03/2022: 0330hrs

The Pakistani Prime minister was jolted awake by four SSG men who had stormed into his bedroom. These grim bearded men gave him no answers on why & where he was being taken. It was only after the Convoy entered the Nuclear Bunker built by the Pakistan Army under the Margalla Hills close to Islamabad that he realized something major had happened. Moments later he was recording a prewritten condemnation of Indian Hostilities to be transmitted to the whole country repeatedly from 0400hrs. The Pakistan Army Chief was an angry & worried man, the Indian Military had just destroyed 40% of his war waging capability in a massive single strike. There was only one way he could steal victory from the jaws of defeat. The Pakistani PM was given no choice in the matter as he signed orders authorizing a strategic nuclear strike on the Indian Cities of Delhi & Mumbai.

Shaheen II Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile with TEL

 19/03/2022: 0400hrs

The ground shook as six massive Chinese built 12 x12 MAZ-547 analogues moved out of their bunkers and moved to launch pads built adjoining the XII Corps HQ in Quetta. A few minutes later six vertical columns of smoke could be seen snaking away into the skies as half a dozen Shaheen-II missiles powered their way to hit some of India’s largest cities. Each of these missiles had been armed with a single 45Kt warhead -the largest that Pakistan has ever successfully tested.

 Chapter 2 

 Effect of 45kt Nuclear airburst above Delhi

19/03/2022:0400

India is one of the four countries in the world to have successfully developed an Anti-Ballistic missile defense system. Officially the System is yet to be deployed though most analysts believe that the system is operational since 2007 and actively protecting key cities. On 6 May 2012 Dr. V K Saraswat confirmed that Phase-I is complete and can be deployed to protect two Indian cities at a short notice. India is also reported to have purchased & deployed up to 6 batteries of the Russian S-300VM LRSAM in 1995 which has a limited BMD Capability

The Swordfish Long Range Tracking Radar based close to Delhi first detected three missiles heading on a trajectory towards the National Capital. Almost immediately the hitherto classified AAD & PAD launchers based around the city began firing interceptors at the inbound missiles. Delhi also had a single S-400 battery complementing  its  missile shield which also started firing it’s interceptors at the oncoming missiles. Thirty seconds later each incoming Shaheen had nine interceptors heading for it. Two Shaheens were knocked out of the Skies but the third one exploded in a fiery airburst 500mtrs over the junction of Akbar Road and Janpath in New Delhi. As the Nuclear Fireball rolled down the wide tree lined avenues that Lutyens had designed in the early 1900’s it left behind a trail of death and destruction. By the time the fires stopped burning 385,400 Delhiites were dead and 1,268,130 further people were suffering from various degrees of radiation burns. Mumbai was a little less lucky and despite a similar AAD + PAD combination protecting it two missiles hit it exactly 5 seconds apart one each in the heart of central Mumbai and Navi Mumbai by the time the Sea breeze blew the Mushroom cloud away 584,790 Mumbaikars were dead and another 2,208,120 were suffering from various degrees of radiation burns.

 The world had just witnessed the first nuclear attack since Hiroshima.

 Effect of 45kt Nuclear Airburst above Mumbai

 Effect of 45Kt Nuclear Airburst Above Navi Mumbai

19/03/2022 0405hrs

The Indian Prime Minster had felt the blast as the bomb hit Delhi in his bunker below the Aravalli hills, he knew what had to be done. Sitting in from of him was the Leader of the Opposition, the Raksha mantra, the NSA, Chief of India’s strategic forces command along with the Air force Chief and Army Chief. It was now or never, the phone lines had already started to ring with leaders from Moscow, Beijing and Washington trying to speak to him, trying to undoubtedly stop what they knew India had to do! The Third Eye of Shiva Had to Open!

 Agni 1Range ring when launch from TELAR close to Jaipur

Indian Army AGNI 1 SRBM

19/03/2022:0410hrs

The 8X8 TATRA TELARS of the 334 Missile group shook violently in the soft glow of the dawn as Eight AGNI 1 missiles rode columns of fire into the skies and made their way to their targets in Pakistan. Six of them were armed with a single 60Kt warhead- the most powerful India has ever successfully tested. While the other two were armed with an upgraded version of the same thermonuclear warhead designed for a 200Kt yield.

 Effect of 60 kt nuclear Airburst over Islamabad

Effect of 60 Kt Nuclear Airburst over Rawalpindi

19/03/2022:0412hrs

Pakistan has no known BMD capability, there are reports of some Chinese HQ-9 LRSAM units having been acquired by the Pakistani forces. However these units also have a very limited BMD Capability. For all practical purposes it can be considered that Pakistan has no defence in the case of a BMD strike.

Dawn had just started to break over Islamabad as the first of three Agni’s destined for the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi was detected by a Pakistan ZDK-03 AEW&C on Patrol above the cities. Two HQ-9 batteries protecting both cities furiously fired off eight interceptors however as the HQ-9 is not a dedicated BMD system only one Agni was intercepted. The 2^nd and 3^rd Agni missiles hit Islamabad and Rawalpindi almost simultaneously with nuclear airbursts 500ft above ground. Islamabad was hit in the middle of its elitist Blue Zone with the fireball barreling down both sides of the iconic Jinnah Avenue while Rawalpindi was hit close to the Railway station, the beautiful colonial era structure crumbling into dust immediately as the blast wave ripped apart the columns erected by the British in 1881. By the time a Himalayan breeze coming down from the Margalla Hills had dissipated the twin Mushroom clouds as many as 461,600 residents had been vaporized while another 1,088,640 people lay injured from various levels of radiation burns. By Sheer luck the HQ-9 had taken out the third Agni carrying a 200kt warhead Islamabad would yet live to see the next sunrise.

 Effect of Karachi being hit by a 200kt Airburst weapon

 Effect of Malir Cantonment area in Karachi being hit by a 60 Kt Airburst Weapon

19/03/2022:0414hrs

As the Fishermen of the Sindh coast made their way into the Arabian Sea they suddenly saw two massive flashes and saw two mushroom clouds arising from the direction of Karachi, Little did they know they had just witnessed the destruction of the ancient port city from whence Alexander the great had sailed for Babylonia. While the Agni carrying the 60kt warhead exploded above the Malir Cantonment area of Karachi the heart of Karachi was seared by the nuclear fire of a 200kt thermonuclear blast right above its beautiful Defence housing Authority area. As the Clouds lifted relatively quickly with the Sea breeze pushing the radiation further inland Karachi was left devastated with 1,344,970 Karachiites dead & a further 2,888,670 injured with Radiation burns.

 The other three Indian missiles hit Lahore, Hyderabad and Faisalabad simultaneously. Lahore was hit close to its elite Cavalry Grounds area killing 220,590 people and injuring another 1,160,990.The final two missiles hit Hyderabad and Faisalabad in the heart of both cities killing 3,58,720 and 5,87,380 people respectively!

 Effect of Lahore being hit by a 60Kt Nuclear Airburst

 Effect of Hyderabad being hit by a 60Kt Airburst

 Effect of Faisalabad being hit by a 60 Kt Nuclear Airburst.

19/03/2022:0420hrs

The Chinese President and American President had just finished speaking to their Pakistani & Indian Counterparts, both nations lay devastated with over 3.3 million people dead. They had just impressed on their counterparts to desist from further escalation by threatening retaliation on both nations by Chinese, Russian and American Forces.It was imperative the nuclear skirmish did not escalate to prevent a Nuclear winter which would kill billions globally. India would launch no further assault  & Pakistan would not launch any further missiles. The first nuclear exchange since Hiroshima had ended… for now!