‘Nothing’s safe anymore’: Pakistani expert admits fear over India’s 7,500-kg bunker buster missile that can strike 80m deep

A powerful new conventional missile under development in India has left Pakistan visibly uneasy. Designed to strike deep underground targets, the 7,500-kg Agni-V-based bunker buster, capable of reaching hardened nuclear command centres, is already provoking a reaction across the border. A top Pakistani strategic affairs expert has sounded alarm over what she sees as a “dangerous shift” in India’s military doctrine that could upend the region’s fragile balance.

The missile, reportedly under development by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is an advanced version of the Agni-V ballistic missile platform. Unlike the nuclear-tipped Agni-V, this version is designed to carry a massive conventional warhead capable of penetrating 80 to 100 metres underground — a weapon meant to target deeply buried command centres, missile storage facilities, and other hardened sites.

According to Indian media reports, the missile will have a reduced range of about 2,500 km, compared to Agni-V’s intercontinental reach, due to the heavy warhead. However, its destructive potential remains significant. Two variants are believed to be in the works: one that detonates above ground to strike surface targets, and another designed to bore deep into the earth before exploding — similar in function to the US GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator.

The weapon, if operationalised, would be among the most powerful conventional missiles in the world. Its ability to deliver a devastating payload without crossing the nuclear threshold could offer Indian military planners a new option in the event of a high-stakes conflict.

But across the border, the development is being viewed with growing unease. Writing in Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, Rabia Akhtar, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Lahore, warned that such a weapon risks a “hazardous entanglement” between conventional and nuclear strategies. She argues that a missile capable of destroying command-and-control centres, which may also serve as nuclear command posts, could trigger unintended escalations.

India’s reported move comes in the wake of the United States’ use of similar bunker-busting munitions against Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow and Natanz in June this year. According to Rabia Akhtar, this demonstration of conventional firepower likely influenced Indian strategic thinking, pushing for a missile that could perform a similar role in the region.While India has not officially commented on the new missile, several Indian defence experts have indicated that it could be aimed at deterring adversaries by holding their most secure military assets at risk, all without using nuclear weapons.Pakistan, however, sees a more scary picture. The very idea that a conventional missile could be used to neutralise strategic targets may prompt riskier calculations during a crisis. “It creates uncertainty around intent,” Akhtar said, adding that Pakistan’s early-warning systems might not be able to distinguish a conventional Agni missile from a nuclear one, increasing the chances of an overreaction.