India’s Inadvertent Missile Launch Underscores the Risk of Accidental Nuclear Warfare

While most of the world focused on the war in Ukraine and worried that a Russian leadership might resort to nuclear weapons, a near tragic accident involving India and Pakistan pointed to. Complex technological systems, including those involving nuclear weapons, can generate unexpected routes to potential disaster, especially when managed by over confident organizations.

India and Pakistan have fought multiple wars and faced many military crises, and both possess more than 300 nuclear weapons. The Pakistan Air Force detected a high speed flying object in Indian territory that changed course and headed toward Pakistan. It flew deep into Pakistan. The object was a weapon system developed by India and Russia. India stated that the launch was an accident.