Hummingbird News Desk
NEW DELHI, 27 OCT: In a strong strategic signal to China amidst the continuing 17-month military confrontation in eastern Ladakh, India successfully test-fired surface-to-surface ballistic missile Agni-5, on Wednesday evening. The missile, which uses 3-stage solid-fuelled engine, is capable of striking targets at ranges up to 5,000 km with very high degree of accuracy.
“A successful launch of the Surface to Surface Ballistic Missile, Agni-5, was carried out on October 27 at approximately 1950 hrs from APJ Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha,” the ministry said.
The successful test of Agni-5, which brings even the northernmost part of China within its strike envelop, is in line with India’s stated policy to have ‘credible minimum deterrence’ that underpins the commitment to ‘No First Use’.
The indigenously-developed surface-to-surface missile, Agni-5, is capable of striking a target more than 5,000 km. It is about 17-metre long, 2-metre wide and has launch weight of around 50 tonnes. The missile can carry a nuclear warhead of more than one tonne.
Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, Agni-5 is an Indian nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile(ICBM).
Flying at 24 times the speed of sound, the missile’s trajectory and flight parameters were constantly monitored by radars, electro-optical tracking systems, telemetry stations and ships before it splashed down in the Bay of Bengal, said an official.
DRDO is also working to develop ‘multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles’ (MIRVs) for the Agni missiles but it will take at least another two years for the multiple-warhead capability to be tested. An MIRV payload basically involves a single missile carrying four to six nuclear warheads, each programmed to hit a separate target.
Lot of new technologies developed indigenously were successfully tested in the first Agni-5 trial. The redundant navigation systems, very high accuracy Ring Laser Gyro based Inertial Navigation System (RINS) and the most modern and accurate Micro Navigation System (MINS) had ensured the Missile reach the target point within few metres of accuracy.
The high-speed on board computer and fault tolerant software along with robust and reliable bus guided the missile flawlessly, an official said
India has at present in its armoury of Agni series, Agni-1 with 700 km range, Agni-2 with 2,000 km range, Agni-3 and Agni-4 with with 2,500 km to more than 3500 km range.
Tags: #Agni5 #India #China #IndianArmy #Agni5Missile #BallisticMissile #DRDO
