Agni ballistic missile
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Agni I: 1998
India Today.in , The Radiant , fiery weapon of the gods “India Today” 15/12/2016
The Agni missile was not India's first ballistic missile. That distinction belonged to the Prithvi short-range ballistic missile first tested in 1988. But over the years, the Agni, now the name for a family of missiles of various ranges, has come to be the mainstay of India's strategic arsenal, capable of carrying nuclear warheads to targets over 5,000 kilometres away. The missile was first test-fired on May 22, 1989. An 18 metre long, 7 tonne Agni missile with a range of 2,500 km was successfully launched into the Bay of Bengal from the interim test range in Chandipur, Orissa, in 1983. It was one of the Indigenous Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) missiles. Since 1995, five variants of the Agni missile family have been deployed and can be carried on road and rail mobile launchers. Key breakthroughs made in the programme include an all-carbon composite heat shield to deal with the temperatures of re-entry, solid rocket fuel, manoeuvrable thrusters as well as a guidance system.
Agni IV: 2014
Agni-IV tested, has China within range
Rajat Pandit The Times of India Dec 03 2014
India’s dissuasive nuclear deterrence against China got a tad more credibility in Dec 2014 with the country testing the Agni IV ballistic missile, which has a strike range of 4,000-km, from the Wheeler Island off Odisha coast in the morning.
The Agni-IV was tested in “its full deliverable configuration” by the tri-service Strategic Forces Command (SFC) in the first such user trials, after one failed and three successful “developmental trials” between 2010 and 2014.
The actual operational induction of the missile, which was tested for a range of only 3,000-km on Tuesday, will take another couple of years.
DRDO scientists said there were no glitches during the missile’s entire parabolic flight path, which was constantly monitored by longrange radars and electro-optical systems all along the coast, till its splash point in the Bay of Bengal.
The SFC has already inducted the short and intermediate range Prithvi and Agni missiles geared towards Pakistan, which has overtaken India both in terms of missiles and nuclear warheads with covert help from China and North Korea over the years.
The road-mobile Agni-IV and Agni-V , in turn, are specifically meant for deterrence against China, which can target any Indian city with its formidable inventory of missiles.
“With Prithvi and Agni-I, II, III missiles already in the arsenal, Agni-IV further extends the reach and enhances India's effective deterrence capability . Agni-IV is equipped with state-ofthe-art avionics, 5th generation on-board computer and distributed architecture,“ said the DRDO.
Agni-V: 2016
From: Rajat Pandit, December 14, 2016: The Times of India
See graphic:
Agni-V, characteristics
2016: India prepares the test
Rajat Pandit, December 14, 2016: The Times of India’’
Only 5 Other Nations Have Such Missiles
India is getting ready to test its Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in its final operational configuration from Wheeler Island off Odisha after two years. Defence sources said preparations were on in full swing to launch the nuclearcapable Agni-V from its canister on a launcher truck towards December-end or early January . “There were some minor technical snags in Agni-V , which required tweaking of its internal battery and electronic configurations after its last test in January 2015,“ a source said.
While Agni-V was tested in an “open configuration“ in April 2012 and September 2013, the third test, in January 2015, saw it being fired from a hermetically sealed canister mounted on a Tatra launcher truck. The missile's canister-launch version makes it even deadlier since it gives the armed forces requisite flexibility to swiftly transport and fire the 50-tonne missile from anywhere they want.
Once the Agni-V is inducted, India will join the superexclusive club of countries with ICBMs (missiles with a range of over 5,000-5,500km) alongside the US, Russia, China, France and the UK.
Apart from the shorterrange Prithvi and Dhanush missiles, the SFC has inducted the Agni-I, Agni-II and Agni-III missiles (see graphic).While these missiles are mainly geared towards Pakistan, the Agni-IV and Agni-V are specifically meant for deterrence against China. China, of course, is leagues ahead in terms of its missile and nuclear arsenals (see graphic).
But the Indian defence establishment believes the Ag ni-V is sufficient to take care of existing threat perceptions. As earlier reported by TOI, DRDO has also done some work on developing “manoeuvring warheads or intelligent re-entry vehicles“ to defeat enemy ballistic missile defence systems, as well as MIRVs (multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles) for the Agni missiles. An MIRV payload basically means a single missile is capable of carrying several nuclear warheads, each programmed to hit different targets.
2016: ready for user trials by military
Rajat Pandit, Agni-V with China tested in December 2016, Dec 27 2016 : The Times of India
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1. Some facts about Agni-V
2. Agni-V, an inter-continental surface-to-surface nuclear capable ballistic missile, some facts
3. Nuclear warheads, India, Pakistan and China
From: January 19, 2018: The Hindu
Agni-V , India's most formidable missile with a range of over 5,000 km, is now ready for user trials by the military after it underwent its fourth and final test-firing from the integrated test range off the Odisha coast.
The intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), dubbed a “game-changer“ in strategic deterrence because it brings the whole of China and much more within its strike envelope, was fired from its canister on a launcher truck just after 11am.
Powered by three-stage rocket motors, the 50-tonne missile tore into space to a height of 500 km before following its predetermined flight-path to the “splash point“ in southern Indian Ocean 20 minutes later. President Pranab Mukherjee and PM Modi congratulated DRDO. The Agni-V test, monitored by radars and tracking systems, met all the mission objectives. The country has achieved a very high-level of self-reliance in missile technologies,“ said the defence minister's scientific adviser G Satheesh Reddy . Defence minister Manohar Parrikar, among others, congratulated DRDO scientists for the “successful“ test-firing of Agni-V , which is designed to carry a 1.5-tonne nucleartipped warhead.
TOI was the first to re port in its December 14 edition the impending test of Agni-V , which will now undergo at least two user-trials by the tri-service Strategic Forces Command (SFC) be fore full-scale production and induction.
The missile's canisterlaunch final operational version is significant because it gives the armed forces the requisite operational flexibility to swiftly transport and launch the missile from wherever they want within a matter of minutes. The hermetically-sealed canister gives the missile higher reliability , enhanced mobility, less maintenance and longer shelf-life. Some more fireworks are likely again over the Bay of Bengal when SFC conducts user-trials of the 4,000-km Agni-IV , which is also designed with China in mind, in the first week of January. Apart from the shorterrange Prithvi and Dhanush missiles, SFC has inducted the Agni-I (700km), Agni-II (2,000km) and Agni-III (3,000km) missiles till now.
Also in the works is AgniVI, which will be armed with “manoeuvring warheads or intelligent re-entry vehicles“ to defeat enemy defence systems or MIRVs (multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles). An MIRV payload basically means a single missile is capable of carrying several nuclear warheads, each programmed to hit different targets.
2018: successful “first pre-induction trial” of Agni-V
From: Rajat Pandit, Entire China could soon be within India’s N-strike zone, January 19, 2018: The Times of India
See graphic:
Nuclear Command Authority and Strategic Forces Command, some facts; Nuclear balance among India, Pakistan and China
DELHI KNOCKS ON DOOR OF SUPER-EXCLUSIVE MISSILE CLUB Induction Of 5,000km-Range, N-Capable ICBM Just A Step Away
India is a step away from gate-crashing into the super-exclusive club of countries with intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with the successful “first pre-induction trial” of Agni-V that, with a range of over 5,000km, brings all of Asia, and thus China, within its nuclear strike capability.
Sources said India’s most formidable missile will undergo one more pre-induction trial “within this year” before it is inducted into the Agni-V regiment already raised by the Tri-Service Strategic Forces Command (SFC) with the requisite command and control structures.
Once that happens, India will rub shoulders with the US, the UK, Russia, China and France. While a belligerent North Korea has, over the last six-seven months, rattled the US with tests of its two new ICBMs — Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-15 — expert opinion is divided on whether they are fully operational and deployed as of now.
In its first pre-induction trial conducted by the SFC, the 17-metre Agni-V was launched from a canister atop the road-mobile launcher from Dr Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha at 9.53am. The three-stage missile zoomed to a height of over 600km in its parabolic trajectory and then splashed down around 4,900km away towards Australia in the Indian Ocean barely 19 minutes later.
The missile’s canisterlaunch version makes it deadlier because it gives the armed forces the requisite operational flexibility to swiftly transport and fire the missile from anywhere they want. “Since the missile is already mated with its nuclear warhead before being sealed in the canister, it drastically cuts down the response or reaction time for a retaliatory strike…only the authorised electronic codes have to be fed to unlock and prime it for launch,” said a source India, of course, wants a credible strategic deterrent against an aggressive and expansionist China, which has a large arsenal of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles. The SFC already has regiments of the Prithvi-II, Agni-I, Agni-II & Agni-III (see graphic) missiles, which are mainly meant to deter Pakistan. Agni-IV and Agni-V, in turn, have been developed with China in mind.
Designed to carry a 1.5- tonne nuclear warhead, Agni-V has been tested four times in “developmental or experimental trials” earlier. The missile was tested in an “open configuration” in April 2012 and September 2013, while it was test-fired from hermetically sealed canisters mounted on transport-cum-tilting launcher trucks in January 2015 and December 2016.
“The missile’s flight performance was monitored by radars, range stations and tracking systems all through the mission. All mission objectives were successfully met. This successful test of Agni-V reaffirms the country’s indigenous missile capabilities and further strengthens our credible deterrence,” said a defence ministry official. Though the DRDO has often proclaimed it can develop missiles with strike ranges of 10,000km to match the Chinese DF-31A (11,200km) and DF-41 (14,500km) missiles, the Indian defence establishment believes Agni-V is sufficient to take care of existing threat perceptions.
There is, however, interest in ongoing DRDO work on developing “manoeuvring warheads or intelligent reentry vehicles” to defeat enemy ballistic missile defence systems, as well as MIRVs (multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles) for the Agni missiles. An MIRV payload means one missile can carry several warheads, each for different targets.
