India Test-Fires Agni V Long-Range Missile
Apr 19, 2012
By Jay Menon jaymenon68@gmail.com
NEW DELHI
Source:
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/awx/2012/04/19/awx_04_19_2012_p0-449454.xml&headline=India%20Test-Fires%20Agni%20V%20Long-Range%20Missile
India on April 19 successfully test-fired a long-range missile capable of targeting parts of northern China and eastern Europe, bringing the emerging South Asian power into an elite club of nations with intercontinental defense capability.
The Agni-V, an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to hit a target up to 5,000 km (3,100 mi.) away, was launched from Wheeler Island off the coast of the eastern state of Odisha at 8:07 a.m. local time, according to V.K. Saraswat, chief of India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO).
“India is today a nation with proven capability to design, develop and produce a long-range ballistic missile,” Saraswat says. “India is a missile power now. The three-stage Agni-V missile’s entire performance has been successfully demonstrated. All mission objectives and operational targets have been met.”
A nuclear tipped three-stage missile, Agni-V was developed by DRDO at a cost of more than 2.5 billion rupees ($48.4 million). It is 17.5 meters (57-ft.) tall with a launch weight of 50 tons, is powered by solid-rocket propellants, and can be transported by road.
The missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher at launch complex-4 of the Integrated Test Range. The test-firing was originally scheduled for April 18, but had to be postponed at the last moment due to rain and heavy lightning.
The successful test inches India closer to a category of sophisticated nations – including the U.S., China, Russia, the U.K. and France – with the capability of deploying intercontinental ballistic missiles, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies based in London.
“Agni-V is a game changer and a technological marvel,” says Saraswat, who is also the scientific adviser to India’s defense ministry. “It is a weapon which can perform multiple functions.”
Uday Bhaskar, an analyst at the National Maritime Foundation, a New Delhi-based research group, calls the missile a “significant development” and says it will neutralize any possible threat coming from China.
While China has plans to increase its military spending by 11% this year, India intends to raise its military expenditures by 13%, according to India’s federal budget released on March 16. India’s total spending will rise to nearly $38 billion.
“The most important aspect is that India would have done this on its own effort because this entire missile program was developed at a time when India was under severe technological restrictions [from] 1978 onwards,” Bhaskar says. “So, in that aspect, it would be a reflection of India’s technological profile in a very complex aspect of military technology which is designing and being able to control missiles at these ranges and speeds.”
Ravi Gupta, a senior scientist and DRDO spokesman, says India’s missile program is not directed against any country.
“India has a no-first-use policy. The missiles are purely for the purpose of deterrence, to meet our present-day threat perceptions determined by our defense forces and security agencies,” Gupta says.
Agni, meaning fire in Hindi and Sanskrit, is a rocket family India has tested since 2002.
In 2010, India successfully test-fired Agni-II, an intermediate-range ballistic missile with a range of more than 2000 km (1,250 mi.).
India has tested several missiles in the past few years as part of its missile program, which began in the 1960s.
Apr 19, 2012
By Jay Menon jaymenon68@gmail.com
NEW DELHI
Source:
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/awx/2012/04/19/awx_04_19_2012_p0-449454.xml&headline=India%20Test-Fires%20Agni%20V%20Long-Range%20Missile
India on April 19 successfully test-fired a long-range missile capable of targeting parts of northern China and eastern Europe, bringing the emerging South Asian power into an elite club of nations with intercontinental defense capability.
The Agni-V, an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to hit a target up to 5,000 km (3,100 mi.) away, was launched from Wheeler Island off the coast of the eastern state of Odisha at 8:07 a.m. local time, according to V.K. Saraswat, chief of India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO).
“India is today a nation with proven capability to design, develop and produce a long-range ballistic missile,” Saraswat says. “India is a missile power now. The three-stage Agni-V missile’s entire performance has been successfully demonstrated. All mission objectives and operational targets have been met.”
A nuclear tipped three-stage missile, Agni-V was developed by DRDO at a cost of more than 2.5 billion rupees ($48.4 million). It is 17.5 meters (57-ft.) tall with a launch weight of 50 tons, is powered by solid-rocket propellants, and can be transported by road.
The missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher at launch complex-4 of the Integrated Test Range. The test-firing was originally scheduled for April 18, but had to be postponed at the last moment due to rain and heavy lightning.
The successful test inches India closer to a category of sophisticated nations – including the U.S., China, Russia, the U.K. and France – with the capability of deploying intercontinental ballistic missiles, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies based in London.
“Agni-V is a game changer and a technological marvel,” says Saraswat, who is also the scientific adviser to India’s defense ministry. “It is a weapon which can perform multiple functions.”
Uday Bhaskar, an analyst at the National Maritime Foundation, a New Delhi-based research group, calls the missile a “significant development” and says it will neutralize any possible threat coming from China.
While China has plans to increase its military spending by 11% this year, India intends to raise its military expenditures by 13%, according to India’s federal budget released on March 16. India’s total spending will rise to nearly $38 billion.
“The most important aspect is that India would have done this on its own effort because this entire missile program was developed at a time when India was under severe technological restrictions [from] 1978 onwards,” Bhaskar says. “So, in that aspect, it would be a reflection of India’s technological profile in a very complex aspect of military technology which is designing and being able to control missiles at these ranges and speeds.”
Ravi Gupta, a senior scientist and DRDO spokesman, says India’s missile program is not directed against any country.
“India has a no-first-use policy. The missiles are purely for the purpose of deterrence, to meet our present-day threat perceptions determined by our defense forces and security agencies,” Gupta says.
Agni, meaning fire in Hindi and Sanskrit, is a rocket family India has tested since 2002.
In 2010, India successfully test-fired Agni-II, an intermediate-range ballistic missile with a range of more than 2000 km (1,250 mi.).
India has tested several missiles in the past few years as part of its missile program, which began in the 1960s.
