Within three days, India successfully test-fired a second surface-to-surface nuclear weapons capable ballistic missile on Friday — Agni-III was fired for its full range of 3,000 km from the Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast.
On Wednesday, the 4,000-km range Agni-IV was successfully launched by the missile technologists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
In Friday’s mission, personnel of the Strategic Forces Command fired Agni-III from a rail mobile launcher at 1.20 a.m. after it was randomly picked up from the production lot. The 17-metre tall missile zeroed in on to the pre-designated target in the Indian Ocean with a two-digit accuracy after a 15-minute ballistic flight. It met all the mission objectives and there was no deviation from the parameters, official sources said. The trial was conducted as part of regular user-training.
The two-stage solid propelled missile reached an altitude of 500 km and withstood scorching temperatures as it re-entered the atmosphere and impacted near the target point. Radars located along the east coast, telemetry stations and electro-optical network tracked and monitored the missile’s performance in real time, while two down range ships recorded the terminal event as the missile impacted the target.
Agni-III, which has already been inducted into the Services, is capable of carrying a payload weighing 1.5 tonnes. It is equipped with an advanced guidance and navigation system to ensure accuracy.
This was the fourth success of Agni-III in a row and the seventh belonging to the Agni series.
In the past five months, all the variants of Agni, from Agni-V to Agni-I, have been successfully test-fired.
V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister; the Chief Controller (Missiles and Strategic Systems), DRDO, Avinash Chander; Director, Research Centre Imarat, S.K. Chaudhuri; and Director, Integrated Test Range (ITR), M.V. K.V. Prasad, were present.
Keywords: Agni-III, DRDO, nuclear missile, ballistic missile, surface-to-surface missile
We hear almost every week the launch of Agni, Prithvi etc but behind all
these numbers and successes, what is the real status? How capable are we
compared to China and Pakistan in missile technology? Number of launches
is irrelevant unless the capabilities are improved and exceeded. Are we
self sufficient in this area and if our defence is using these missiles
and are they deployed in active duty?
I have a question for DRDO, does firing the Agni missiles in wartime require the assistance of the DRDO scientists and if so how would the logistics work since missiles need to be road-mobile or hidden from enemy view?
Indian missile strength is far advance than pakistan and closer to china. But some media misleading this. Range of this missile is far greater than any kind of pakistani missile.
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