The successful launch of three missiles in the past one week confirmed India’s readiness for strategic defence and that the country’s missile development and production capability have reached a high maturity level, observed V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister.
Talking to The Hindu soon after the launch of the nuclear weapons-capable Agni-II on Friday, he said the hat-trick of successes has proved the country’s capability to develop and produce missiles of any range and the possession of technology to meet any threat profile.
He said that Agni-II Prime surface-to-surface missile would be launched in November and the first flight test of India’s longest range strategic system Agni-V (5,000 km range) would be conducted in December. Besides, an interceptor missile test would also be held as part of the plans to put in place Ballistic Missile Defence system.
Dr. Saraswat said Agni-II’s performance on Friday was outstanding and all the performance parameters were in copy-book manner, including the terminal event and detonation of the warhead. The Circular Error Probability (CEP) was within a few metres showing that the missile’s terminal accuracy was good. The propulsion rockets too performed as per the thrust profile.
During its flight, Agni-II reached an altitude of 220 km and re-entered the atmosphere as the re-entry vehicle withstood temperatures of more than 3,000 deg.C and the accuracy of thermal and aerodynamic loads was proved.
