Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced that India successfully carried out the maiden flight test of the locally developed Agni-5 missile with multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle (MIRV) technology, with the new capability allowing the weapon system to deliver multiple nuclear warheads against different targets spread across hundreds of kilometres, and further strengthening the country’s strategic deterrence capability.
The PM also revealed the code name for the historic test, Mission Divyastra (divine weapon), which has propelled India into an exclusive league of countries that have the capability to deploy MIRV missile systems, including the US, the UK, France, Russia and China.
“Proud of our DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) scientists for Mission Divyastra, the first flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology,” the PM posted on X.
“Various telemetry and radar stations tracked and monitored multiple re-entry vehicles. The mission accomplished the designed parameters,” the defence ministry said in statement, calling it a complex mission. The test was carried out from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast. The missile’s trajectory was tracked by missile tracker INS Dhruv, with top DRDO and NSCS officials in attendance.
The Agni-5 missile, which uses a three-stage solid fuelled engine, has a range of more than 5,000km. MIRVs can cause more destruction than traditional missiles that carry a single warhead. The other variants of the Agni missiles developed by DRDO include the 700km range Agni-1, the 2,000km Agni-2, the 3,000km Agni-3, and 4,000km range Agni-4. (HT)
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