Capable of striking 5,000 kilometres away, India enters the exclusive club of ICBMs with ‘Agni-V’

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Capable of eliminating an enemy 5,000 kilometres away India has successfully test-fired the recently inducted Agni-V, the nuclear-capable surface to surface intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

Designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the successful launch of the Agni-V missile is in line with India’s stated policy to have ‘credible minimum deterrence’.

This is the first user launch of the missile, which was last tested in 2018, before it got inducted into the Strategic Forces Command that looks after India’s nuclear arsenal.

The missile can also be carried by a road-mobile truck, allowing the mobilization of missile across the country easily. The missile has claimed to be tested more than 7 times before moving to user trials with the Indian Army.

In an official communique, the Defence Ministry said, “Agni-5 is capable of striking targets at ranges up to 5,000 kilometres with very high degree of accuracy.”

Further, the missile uses a three-stage solid-fuelled engine, which was last tested in 2018, before it got inducted into the Strategic Forces Command, which looks after nation’s nuclear arsenal.

India enters the exclusive club of countries with ICBMs

With the successful launch of Agni-V, India has broadly entered into the exclusive club of the Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBMs) category, and joined the nations like the US, Russia, Britain, China, and France.

Agni-V can carry a payload of 1.5 tonnes and weighs around 50 tonnes. Further, the DRDO is also working on a longer-range version of the Agni series of missiles.

Previously, India also test-fired the Agni Prime version of the series, the next generation nuclear-capable ballistic missile in the nuclear arsenal.

While the Agni Prime and the rest of the Agni series is focussed primarily on the Asia subcontinent, the Agni-V has a much larger capability of striking the enemy.

In 2018, DRDO in an official statement said that Agni-V is designed in a manner that after reaching the peak of its trajectory, the missile will turn towards Earth to continue its journey towards the intended target with more speed due to the attraction of the Earth’s gravitational pull.

The Agni missile family

Agni series of missiles include from 1 to 4 and Agni -V. In addition to the Agni-V, other Agni missiles that India has are: Agni-1 with a 700-km range, Agni-2 with a 2,000-km range, Agni-3 and Agni-4 with 2,500 km to over 3,500 km range