The Hindu : Agni missile test-fired successfully

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 10, 2003

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Agni missile test-fired successfully

By Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI JAN. 9. India today successfully test-fired the 800-km-range Agni missile and plans to undertake more tests shortly before its induction in a newly-raised missile group drawn from the Army.

Test-fired with a one-tonne payload, its most likely warhead, the solid propellant-fuelled missile, fills the gap between the shorter range, Prithvi missile and the 2,500-km-range Agni-II. It will be cheaper than Agni-II and better than Prithvi, since it can be fired from a greater distance and with a heavier payload. Although the Prithvi has been inducted in the 333 Missile Group of the Army, its heavier weapon-carrying capacity is neutralised by Pakistan's M-11 missiles because of the shorter range. The Agni variant tested today can be placed at a much greater distance from the border and, thus, has much more survival capacity during hostilities. It also has a solid fuel-propellant system which means it can be launched much faster than a liquid fuel-propelled variant. Significantly, official sources said the missile was tested from a mobile platform which means that it has been nearly configured for use in a real-life setting — the Railways has already manufactured specialised wagons to carry it disguised as regular commercial goods cargo rake.

The launch met all the parameters and was tracked by a network of ground stations and naval ships. Sources said it was designed to carry ``special weapon payload'' which means a one-tonne nuclear device with a 45-kiloton thermonuclear design tested at Pokhran in 1998. Advanced tests might see the shorter range being tested with heavier payloads.

In addition to the shorter range Agni, India is also planning to test missiles of other capabilities. There are plans to conduct conclusive tests of the Brahmos cruise missile as well as the surface-to-air Akash and the anti-tank Nag missiles. The final phase of guided trials for Akash and the shorter range naval version, Trishul were planned last year.

Muralidhar Reddy reports from Islamabad:

Pakistan has alleged that the test-firing of the Agni missile is a reflection of the "war-mongering mindset" of the Indian leadership and maintained that "Pakistan is above such war-mongering psyche".

The Information Minister, Sheikh Rashid, who is known for his rhetoric, took the strident posture. In contrast, the reaction of the Pakistan Foreign Office was more measured as it sought to dismiss the test as "not an unexpected development".

The Foreign Office spokesman, Aziz Ahmed Khan, in a press statement, said the test was "not unexpected as India's nuclear and missile ambitions were well known." Asked whether Pakistan would respond with its own test, the spokesman said, "Pakistan conducts tests when our technical requirements so demand."

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