India launches nuclear capable Agni-V missile

NEW DELHI: India on Sunday successfully test launched over 5,000-km Agni-V missile, which will be able to hit even the northernmost part of China, from the Wheeler Island off the Odisha coast. This is the second test launch of the long range missile. The first test was conducted on April 19, 2012. Once the 17.5-metre tall Agni-V becomes fully operational, India will fully break into the super-exclusive ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) club of the US, Russia, China, France and the UK that wield such missiles. An ICBM is a missile that typically has a range over 5,500-km. Though DRDO scientists are confident of developing a missile with a higher strike range, the government has assessed that the solid-fuelled Agni-V is enough to meet existing threat perceptions''because only credible strategic deterrence'' is required against Beijing. China, of course, has a formidable missile arsenal. Its road-mobile DF-31A missile, for instance, can hit targets 11,200-km away, bringing all major Indian cities under its strike envelope. China also has the JL-2 submarine-launched missile with a 7,400-km range. The two-stage Agni-IV, with a 3,500-km strike, in turn, will be ready for induction by 2014-2015. The missile is similar to Agni-V in terms of accuracy and kill efficiencies. The armed forces have already inducted the Pakistan-specific Agni-I (700-km) and Agni-II (over 2,000-km) as well as the 3,000-km Agni-III. As reported by TOI earlier, defence scientists are also working on maneuvering warheads or 're-entry vehicles' to defeat enemy ballistic missile defence systems as well as MIRVs (multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles) for the Agni missiles. An MIRV payload implies a single missile carrying several nuclear warheads, each programmed to hit different targets.   TOI