JOIN USKakodkar allays army's fear
“I think that is guaranteed. The Army should be fully confident. There is no doubt about the arsenal at their command,” he said in an interview to a private channel.
Kakodkar, who retired from service on November 30, was asked about former Army chief V P Malik’s remarks that nuclear scientists should assure the armed forces about the efficacy of the thermonuclear device.
He ruled out the need for further thermonuclear tests and said the country has several hydrogen bombs with a yield “much more” than 45 kilotons.
Dismisses claims
Kakodkar dismissed former DRDO scientist K Santhanam’s claims over the success of the 1998 thermonuclear tests, saying it would not be correct to assume that he (the defence scientist) knew everything.
“We required logistic support which was provided by DRDO...things were being done on a need-to-know basis. To assume that Santhanam knew everything is not correct. Santhanam knew what was within his responsibility,” Kakodkar said. He said it was “totally erroneous” to conclude that the hydrogen bomb test was not a success.
“The yield of thermonuclear test was verified, not by one method but by several methods and by different groups and this has been reviewed in detail,” he said.
“I had described the tests as perfect in 1998 and I stand by that,” said Kakodkar, who played key roles in the nuclear tests of 1974 and 1998.
He also said the instruments used by DRDO to measure the yield of the tests did not work. “I myself had reviewed this immediately after th e test and we concluded that these instruments did not work. “If the instruments did not work where is the question of going by the assertions based on them and what is the basis of those assertions,” he said.
On former AEC chief P K Iyengar’s support to Santhanam’s claims, Kakodkar said : “Iyengar was not in the picture as far as 1998 tests were concerned. He knows only as much as has been published, nothing more.”
When pointed out that other countries had done more hydrogen bomb tests than India, Kakodkar said: “If you go by ‘dil maange more’ that is another story. The important point is all tests worked as designed.”