Agni V, India's most powerful long-range ballistic missile, has lived up to the hopes of its creators at the Defence Research & Development Organisation. In its maiden flight on Thursday morning, the missile demonstrated that it could accurately lob a dummy warhead weighing slightly over one tonne to a distance of over 5,000 km. India already has nuclear-capable missiles that can reach all of Pakistan and Agni V is clearly intended to provide a similar deterrent capability with respect to China. More test flights will be necessary before the missile is inducted into the country's strategic arsenal. V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, has called the missile “a game-changer” that can perform different roles, from carrying multiple warheads to providing anti-satellite capability and even launching tiny satellites into orbit. Like its progenitor, Agni III, this missile has a two-metre diameter (as compared to the one-metre diameter of Agni I and II). Agni III and V are therefore the first Indian missiles that can potentially be equipped with several warheads each (known as Multiple Independently Targeted Re-entry Vehicles or MIRV). MIRVs, however, pose their own technological challenges, especially the need to considerably shrink the size and weight of nuclear warheads. Despite China's earlier start, its ballistic missiles are still thought to be equipped with single warheads, not MIRVs. This suggests that developing an operational MIRV capability is not easy and will take time for both countries. Which is just as well because mutual security — as the superpowers discovered during the Cold War — does not lie in going down that path.
Both China and Pakistan possess formidable nuclear-armed missiles of their own. The former is in the process of replacing its liquid-fuelled ballistic missiles with more modern solid propellant ones. From bases in Qinghai and Yunnan provinces, these missiles can reach all of India. In addition, in 2004, China launched the first of its second-generation Type 094 Jin-class nuclear-powered submarines that will carry JL-2 solid-propellant ballistic missiles. Islamabad too has a number of long-range missiles in its armoury. An assessment carried out by an Indian strategic studies group found that Pakistan had a “credible deterrent structure” organised around the solid-propellant Shaheen-1 and -2 missiles. However, responsible possession of nuclear-armed missiles for the purposes of deterrence also requires working assiduously to remove sources of friction that can erupt into open conflict. It is also important that India and China start talking to each other on nuclear matters.
Keywords: Agni-V, Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile, DRDO, ballistic missile, Multiple Independently Targeted Re-entry Vehicles, MIRV, nuclear-capable missiles, Indian defence, India's nuclear capabilities
While we can be justifiably proud for having developed a whole range of missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, we need to streamline our present Nuclear Command Authority's organisation. Presently, it is unwieldy and cumbersome and by the time we arrive at a decision to go nuclear, our enemy would have struck us twice over! As with the erstwhile NATO - Warsaw Pact face off, our field army commanders should have the authority to launch tactical nuclear weapons, leaving the strategic category to the political leadership.
OK...! 'A' will make 5000 miles range the other 'B' will make 6000, then A-will go for 7000 miles, B- 8000 miles. A- to satellite destruction, B- Moon destruction, A- to hell, B- to hells hell.
US has all this capacity before 3 decades. Sleeping and dragging, now came the Indian missile. I wonder if really this will work in real time situation.
I also wonder it could be a Firework display on the opponent. I will never forget Indian corruption who supplied bogus, false, unauthentic, counterfeit STUFF to the warriors who are in the battle field. I advise Indians to be quite aware of our corrupted society.
Kudos to the team on this glorious achievement. Taking this a a cue, Our Govt and MOD should be cognizant of the fact that our Scientists can do remarkable things and focus on R&D for development of indigenous tanks, missiles, trucks, Artillery, Guns, bullet proof jackets.. so on and so forth which will help us in the long run in multitude of ways - This will reduce our reliance on foreign defence equipment which is wasting tax payers money,reduce corruption in defence deals. Also, this would enable us to develop &foster technical knowledge internally, create a good manufacturing base in the country for our defence and thereby create lot of jobs in our Country. Our self reliance would also earn us the respect of our neighbours and the Western countries as well.
Hindu News paper will never appreciate our scientist.because it always supports communist china.
Fireworkss!!! hatss off to all the people behind this remarkable achievement and making India proud once again:)
Fireworkss!!! hatss off to all the people behind this remarkable achievement and making India proud once again:)
Definitely its a remarkable achievement. Upgradation of military capabilities needs to be made on regular basis nowadays. Even though china and other countries may be in more advantageous position and 'NO FIRST STRIKE' policy of India may seem lowering India's stance. One should always know the consequences of violating the threshold limit.
All the best DRDO..
Excellent! I would have appreciated The Hindu had it give the credit to the team of great scientists behind this. Hats off to the DRDO for this remarkable achievement.
Precisely this was essential for the country which is undergoing through skepticism of its military power in weapons.No doubt General Singh revelations was disappointing but needed for our future.
At the outset,Kudos to our DRDO Officials and may god bless them in their future endeavours. The indigenous development of Agni V shows India's profess in developing ICBMs which are second to none in a group of five nations has already rattled Chinese Administration. China on the other hand has proliferated Missile technology to Pakistan and thus has escalated arms race in the sub continent. Pakistan can never match to India's calibre and efficiency in the field of technology and indigenous development. We need to fine tune our defence armoury as the threats from hostile neighbours loom large over us.
Please note that we are living in a world which is far from perfect and our neighbors are inimical more often than not when it comes to our strategic concerns, under such circumstances, it is prudent on our part to be militarily strong coupled with economic might. There are no free lunches anywhere and we need to alert and cautious on defense related matters, thankfully all successive Govts are shown the same concern on these issues which is very remarkable indeed. Full credit should go to our PM, Dr.Manmohan Singh and all our scientists and engineers in DRDO for this spectacular achievement.
@N. Sadasivan Pillai: You probably missed the piece of info that China already posses nuclear missiles to cover all of India and some. In fact nationalist Chinese newspaper wrote a condescending article claiming that its missile and nuclear capabilities are far superior to India's. Guess what, that is true. In other words whether India have an ICBM or not China already got India covered under its missile capability and so is its regional proxy Pakistan (aided by China). But India is slowly making progress and gradually catching up to China's psychological threats by developing its own missiles and nuclear powered submarines. Both China and India I doubt has any desire to use nukes against each other, it is just that in global power politics the haves (in this case China) wield the psychological threat of a missile attack to gain concessions from the have-nots (such as India). But with Agni-5 India would now be in better position to negotiate with China on territorial disputes.
[Which is just as well because mutual security — as the superpowers discovered during the Cold War — does not lie in going down that path.] Yeah but... that's precisely the path we're going down.
Your write-up with its comparative technical missile details of China and Pakistan makes interesing reading.Its complexion,however,smacks of glorification of the proliferation of nuclear weapons.Can the possession of more and more weapons constitute a deterrence against alien invasion?It arises only out of a faulted comprehesion of historical reality.Expanding the arsenal of an individual or nation spells only doom.The two Great Wars have taught us so.Individuals are also no exception.Drunk with ambition and power, Napolean Bonaparte, a product of the French Revolution, embarked on empire-building.He vaulted across the continents from Europe rattling them in the course.Finally,he ended up in St. Helena island and died an iglorious death there,away from humanity including his own wife and dear son.The case of great empires are no different.Now breeding suspecion would prompt Pakistan and China to go for missiles that outstip the capability of AgniV.If you want peace, prepare for it.
Excellent editorial! No doubt, this is a great day for India. However,we should use our recent empowerment judiciously and with responsibility.
The Chinese dragon may engulf the complete Indian army. Let us be
watchful in future .This bold step must be encouraged further.The MIRV
is a unique one and constant efforts be made to keep it up.
Yes, it is a game changer. India is in a tough neighbourhood and it needs to deter potential adverseries from attacking it. Some argue that there are many poor people in India and the construction of such missiles is a waste. This is not a valid argument because by that logic, the country should not maintain any armed forces but that is hardly realistic. The country has to maintain a credible defense to safeguard it's independence and ensure that it is not bullied by others. Also, if the missile programme is scrapped, the money saved would not be enough to wipe out poverty in the country overnight.
Why is it a game changer? India has the policy of no first use. China certainly don't need to use first. So, there is no game changer. What is needed for India is to spend more on conventional weapons to impress upon China that they will get a bloody nose if they cross the border. Agni 5 becomes a game changer if it revokes not to use first policy and political will to use it first. Neverthless, India should continue to perfect their missile technology while heavily investing in conventional warfare.
This is the start of deterrence against Chinese aggression. China's rise has been coupled with an imperialist mindset that has brought it into conflict with neighbouring countries. China has now started allying with some of the most repressive regimes in the world for purposes of stealing valuable national resources from the people of those nations. Who can forget the war inflicted upon a friendly India in 1962? It is even harder to understand China's claims over Arunachal Pradesh today in any historical or modern context. We should also remember how China threatened to attack India in 1965, a war that was thrust upon India by Pakistan. We now also know how China conspired with US and came close to attacking India in 1971.
In a most dangerous development over the last 20 years, Pakistani nuclear and missile capability has been built on Chinese nuclear proliferation. Now, finally, India is on it way to acquiring real deterrence against this continuous Chinese aggression.
Having acquired mature mastery in missile technology&demonstrated MIRV capability INDIA has put on notice those adversaries who might have looked down on our R&D&deployability.With our sincere "NO FIRST STRIKE"declared nuclear policy all SECURITY COUNCIL nations now are forced to not only take notice but respond openly&honestly when INDIA inspite of her non-NPT status questions the discriminatory policy of both CTBT&NSG groups by inviting her to be a member of the FOUR international bodies of NSG,Missile tech regime,WASSENAR grp etc as requested by Mr.RANJAN MATHAI not so long ago.
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