Agni-V, India's first ICBM test-fired successfully

[Renny]

Agni-V, India's first ICBM test-fired successfully

NEW DELHI: India on Thursday test-fired for the first time its most-ambitious strategic missile, the over 5,000-km range Agni-V, in a bid to join the super exclusive ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) club that counts just US, Russia,China, France and UK as its members.

The solid-fuelled Agni-V, which will bring the whole of China as well as other regions under its strike envelope, was tested from Wheeler Island off the Odisha coast at 8.07 am.

''We have met all our mission objectives,'' said a jubilant DRD0 chief controller of missiles, Avinash Chander.

DRD0 chief V K Saraswat, in turn, said India had emerged as a major missile power with Thursday's test.

The nuclear-capable, three-stage Agni-V, about 50-tonne in weight and 17.5-metre tall, will become fully operational by 2014-2015 after "four to five repeatable tests" and user trials.

India could have gone for a higher strike range but believes the solid-fuelled Agni-V is "more than adequate'' to meet current threat perceptions and security concerns. The missile can, after all, even hit the northernmost parts of China.

India, of course, cannot match China in terms of its vast nuclear and missile arsenals. But missiles like Agni-V and the 3,500-km Agni-IV, tested last November, will certainly add teeth to its credible minimum nuclear deterrence posture.

With a canister-launch system to impart higher road mobility, the missile will give the armed forces much greater operational flexibility than the earlier-generation of Agni missiles.

"The accuracy levels of Agni-V and Agni-IV, with their better guidance and navigation systems, are far higher than Agni-I (700-km), Agni-II (2,000-km) and Agni-III (3,000-km),'' said the source.

The Agni missiles will get deadlier once MIRV (multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles) payloads for them are developed. An MIRV payload on a missile carries several nuclear warheads, which can be programmed to hit different targets. A flurry of such missiles can hence completely overwhelm BMD (ballistic missile defence) systems.




Agni-V, India's first ICBM test-fired successfully - Times Of India
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Top 10 facts about Agni-V

[CommanderShawnzer]

good,atleast our country can hit bejing and shanghai incase of an eventuality................

[Minion]

At last some firepower that can make Chinese to think 1000 time before hitting India

[digit.sh]

Its a good demonstration of technology. Our guidance system uses ring-laser-gyroscope which is far more accurate than others'. But the killer feature is that it can carry multiple warheads(MIRV - multiple re entry vehicle), each of which can be targeted to different places!
On the other hand, IMO, in today's scenario, intelligence gathering, political and economic espionage is more important, cause its very unlikely that we will ever go into a full scale war with any of our neighbours, let alone usage of ballastic missiles. That said, its absolutely necessary to make such missiles and to be prepared for any possible situation.

[Tech_Wiz]

Only a person with a Gun in hand can demand and maintain peace. Peace is not for beggers

[101gamzer]

China is saying that Agni V has 8000 km range and India is hiding it !!! they have far better Missile and nuclear arsenal then us !

[sukesh1090]

for me comparing nuclear arsenal is just waste of time.we only need a few of them to turn china in to dust and same goes for India.but I am more than sure that no one will ever use these weapons.because if they use it they will get their *** kicked by other countries.above all if i am right china can't use it because it is under the treaty of not using it and India haven't signed that treaty.so china can only use it when we hit them with a nuclear weapon which is not going to happen.

[KDroid]

Good to know that we developed it. Still, China can beat the $hit out of us if it wants.

[icebags]

China is saying that Agni V has 8000 km range and India is hiding it !!! they have far better Missile and nuclear arsenal then us !

actually, if we can deliver a package to moon, we can deliver the same halfway around the earth too, just need to calculate the package trajectory and trust in to required location while it's in orbit. however, missile differs a bit from those rockets, they are more portable, compact and usable in short notice.
others china or amreeka, all are aware of what pslv gets converted into by applying a different coating of paint.

p.s. news media claims agni-v can destroy spy-sats, as well as incoming ballistic missiles. i am not aware of how a ballistic missile can do that.

[KDroid]

India hiding missile's actual range? Really? I think, We indians love to brag.

[ssdivisiongermany1933]

hmmm....Westen Europe and American continent still out of range but atleast our notorious neighbors are in range

[gopi_vbboy]

whats use of missle when soldiers in our army are having oudated guns and weapons...army need to be equiped with good weapons as priority

[dashing.sujay]

actually, if we can deliver a package to moon, we can deliver the same halfway around the earth too, just need to calculate the package trajectory and trust in to required location while it's in orbit. however, missile differs a bit from those rockets, they are more portable, compact and usable in short notice.
others china or amreeka, all are aware of what pslv gets converted into by applying a different coating of paint.

p.s. news media claims agni-v can destroy spy-sats, as well as incoming ballistic missiles. i am not aware of how a ballistic missile can do that.

India has already achieved technology of hitting an incoming missile. This is a very advanced technology though.

As far as sending a missile/rocket to half distance if earth is not that easy. It always fails due to one reason, "Cryogenic engine", which India is not able to develop fully, and no country is ready to sell. If India develops it, lunar missions + ICBM+ range will be much easier.

But until its not conducted into army after full fledge test, we can't be so sure of its success. Remember Agni IV, it got an array of failures.

whats use of missle when soldiers in our army are having oudated guns and weapons...army need to be equiped with good weapons as priority

.22 Vs m4 (or even mp5 smg) , can you imagine!

[icebags]

India has already achieved technology of hitting an incoming missile. This is a very advanced technology though.

As far as sending a missile/rocket to half distance if earth is not that easy. It always fails due to one reason, "Cryogenic engine", which India is not able to develop fully, and no country is ready to sell. If India develops it, lunar missions + ICBM+ range will be much easier.

But until its not conducted into army after full fledge test, we can't be so sure of its success. Remember Agni IV, it got an array of failures.

hey yo, i just wondered how u hit an coming missile with some super heavy agni missile. well, the tech of hitting incoming missile is not consistent, they keep changing when newer countermeasures are incorporated in the incoming missile. for ex, the models of patriot missiles that us used to protect israel in 90s, are considered outdated now. they made some even "better" patties, india wants them too, but us simply wont give.

about cryogenic engine, that's what is used for very upper parts of the atmosphere & space, and we are lacking this alright. but we have alternative, that's just not as good as the cryo engine. pslv does it's job well, and consider the fact that if u can put a satellite in lower earth orbit, you can pull it down too, just need to calculate its path (it should have an operational engine though) so that it does not get burned up during atmospheric re-entry.

ps: it seems agni-v can launch small lower earth spy sats too. its a capability nice to have. guess when ur operational spy sats are shot down by the enemy, you can just put another from a railway tack near baranasi or from the highway by the side of a football ground.

[dashing.sujay]

We don't really have an alternative for cryogenic engine.

consider the fact that if u can put a satellite in lower earth orbit, you can pull it down too, just need to calculate its path (it should have an operational engine though)

[icebags]

how you think we propelled that chandrayan into moon orbit? solid fuel engines are not used in space. we used old liquid fuel engine, containing separate tanks of fuel and oxidizer.

cryogenic engine differs from liquid fuel engines in sense that, it keeps gaseous fuels in "cryo" temp, i.e. very low temp. thats why same mass of cryo fuel entered in burning chamber produces faster burn or more thrust than that of conventional liquid engine.

cryo engine = more power = more payload. liquid fuel engine can be used in place of a cryo engine, just the payload will be much smaller.

[pranav0091]

Missile and Satellite launching tech, though pretty similar, are not exactly the same. Just because we can launch to the moon on doesn't mean we can hit anyplace on the earth. Note that the Agni V is a all-solid missile.

And also note that in terms or raw thrust, nothing beats the good old solid propellant based engines. The point where liquid propellants (cryo or not) are good is thrust per unit mass of fuel.

And as icebags said, liquid engines are acceptable alternatives to cryo engines. Cryo engines are liquid engines afterall.

[ajaymailed]

p.s. news media claims agni-v can destroy spy-sats, as well as incoming ballistic missiles. i am not aware of how a ballistic missile can do that.

no it can't destroy incoming ballistic missile, they might talking about destroying Satellites, evading the Anti-Ballistic missiles using maneuvers. We also have a ballistic missile defense program going on.

for me comparing nuclear arsenal is just waste of time.we only need a few of them to turn china in to dust and same goes for India

It would take lot of nukes to turn a large country into dust. normally the idea is to deter or threaten them with dire consequences like destroying major cities

[Faun]

whats use of missle when soldiers in our army are having oudated guns and weapons...army need to be equiped with good weapons as priority

That's why we are prioritizing on Deterrence.

[CommanderShawnzer]

whats use of missle when soldiers in our army are having oudated guns and weapons...army need to be equiped with good weapons as priority

dude,thats only possible if our generals and politicians/ministers stop "eating" out of defence deals

[whitestar_999]

some clarification:
1.India does not have functional MIRV tech yet(read today's TOI P17 Tessy Thomas,Agni project director statement where she mentioned it as next target).

2.the so called missile defense shield even of USA after spending tens of billions of $ can only stop 1-2 missiles with a probability in the range of 90%. intercepting a missile with another missile is like trying to hit a bullet with another bullet midway in the air kinda like something you see in movies.it is very difficult & almost impossible if you consider a scenario of 4-5 or more missiles coming.missile defense shield is only to prevent 1-2 missiles from rouge states like north korea or some terrorist organization getting their hands on a missile.it is useless against a nation like USA or Russia having 1000s of missiles on an automated launch control.

3.no matter what weapon you have it is useless if you can't use it fast enough.India does not have any well defined central nuclear command which even Pakistan has.it will probably take us 15 minutes to half an hour just to assemble the warhead & delivery system like agni.of course pakistan can not annihilate our launching facilities in this time but china has the resources though it will mean an all out nuclear war so very unlikely but possibility is there.it also means that if someday a terrorist organization uses a nuclear device against India Pakistan will have ~30 minutes to talk to indian leadership to convince them it is not them(even if they are lying) not to mention US/world intervention(similar to aftermath of mumbai attack but much more pressure).

conclusion:more than nukes it is the conventional military strength & strong political leadership which will benefit us more instead of 10000Km 12MIRV(multiple independently-launchable re-entry vehicle) capable Agni.....

[dashing.sujay]

conclusion:more than nukes it is the conventional military strength & strong political leadership which will benefit us more instead of 10000km 12mirv(multiple independently-launchable re-entry vehicle) capable agni.....

...

+ 1

[NIGHTMARE]

some clarification:
1.India does not have functional MIRV tech yet(read today's TOI P17 Tessy Thomas,Agni project director statement where she mentioned it as next target).

India is developing it. I heard India investing in Agni-6 SLBM with MIRV 6000 km range and the best is part SLBM.

2.the so called missile defense shield even of USA after spending tens of billions of $ can only stop 1-2 missiles with a probability in the range of 90%. intercepting a missile with another missile is like trying to hit a bullet with another bullet midway in the air kinda like something you see in movies.it is very difficult & almost impossible if you consider a scenario of 4-5 or more missiles coming.missile defense shield is only to prevent 1-2 missiles from rouge states like north korea or some terrorist organization getting their hands on a missile.it is useless against a nation like USA or Russia having 1000s of missiles on an automated launch contro

l.

This is reality, no system is fail-proof, especially system such as iron dome (Used by Israel)which was developed only within 3 years and is still improving. The recent attack by Gaza were two rockets hit Be'er Sheva school and residential neighborhood; senior official to Haaretz.

Over 200 rockets were fired at Israel, only 60 of 200+ were identified as to hit protected area, the system launch 60 interceptors which managed to intercept 56, this is 93% of success! Iron Dome is still in operational testing and will improve, there is no analogue system in the world to Iron Dome.

I think we are already operating Spyder air defense system.

3.no matter what weapon you have it is useless if you can't use it fast enough.India does not have any well defined central nuclear command which even Pakistan has.it will probably take us 15 minutes to half an hour just to assemble the warhead & delivery system like agni.of course pakistan can not annihilate our launching facilities in this time but china has the resources though it will mean an all out nuclear war so very unlikely but possibility is there.it also means that if someday a terrorist organization uses a nuclear device against India Pakistan will have ~30 minutes to talk to indian leadership to convince them it is not them(even if they are lying) not to mention US/world intervention(similar to aftermath of mumbai attack but much more pressure).

Our worthy politicians are busy watching porn in the Assemblies and doing sex ! And that's more interesting by far, than discussing national security issues, which is kinda boring, what?

[CommanderShawnzer]

some clarification:
India does not have any well defined central nuclear command which even Pakistan has

we have.do some research please

The Indian Strategic Forces Command (SFC), sometimes called The Strategic Nuclear Command forms part of India's Nuclear Command Authority (NCA). It is responsible for the management and administration of the country's tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile. It was created on January 4, 2003.
It is the responsibility of the SFC to operationalize the directives of the NCA under the leadership of a Commander-in-Chief of the rank of Air Marshal (or its equivalent). It will have the sole responsibility of initiating the process of delivering nuclear weapons and warheads, after acquiring explicit approval from the NCA. The exact selection of the target area shall be decided by the SFC through a calibrated, cumulative process involving various levels of decision-making, and with formal approval by the NCA.
The SFC manages and administers all strategic forces by exercising complete command and control over nuclear assets, and producing all contingency plans as needed to fulfil the required tasks. Since its inception, the SFC’s Command, Control and Communication systems have been firmly established, and the command has attained a high state of operational readiness.

Strategic Forces Command

Our worthy politicians are busy watching porn in the Assemblies and doing sex ! And that's more interesting by far, than discussing national security issues, which is kinda boring, what?

No,our politicos do other important activities, mostly they are busy watching thier Swiss bank accounts fill.now that's intresting

[ajaymailed]

India is developing it. I heard India investing in Agni-6 SLBM with MIRV 6000 km range and the best is part SLBM.

All composite Three Stage SLBM on a decently silent Ballistic missile Submarine, with MIRVs and evasive maneuvers in Mid-course & terminal stages will be culmination of Indias missile program. Development of Agni-3 was probably the first step of this endeavor.

3.no matter what weapon you have it is useless if you can't use it fast enough.India does not have any well defined central nuclear command which even Pakistan has.it will probably take us 15 minutes to half an hour just to assemble the warhead & delivery system like agni.of course pakistan can not annihilate our launching facilities in this time but china has the resources though it will mean an all out nuclear war so very unlikely but possibility is there.it also means that if someday a terrorist organization uses a nuclear device against India Pakistan will have ~30 minutes to talk to indian leadership to convince them it is not them(even if they are lying) not to mention US/world intervention(similar to aftermath of mumbai attack but much more pressure).


conclusion:more than nukes it is the conventional military strength & strong political leadership which will benefit us more instead of 10000Km 12MIRV(multiple independently-launchable re-entry vehicle) capable Agni.....

we can discuss so many scenarios of nuclear war but basically its critical to have the capability, regardless of how command, control or politicians work. We can change the policy anytime, mate the warheads into the missiles in peacetime itself, it all depends on political situation, level of preparedness, reaction time. WMDs are as important conventional military strength, probably more important in Indian Scenario considering two of our neighbors have lots of nukes.

[asingh]

I thought it had MIRV.

[CommanderShawnzer]

we can discuss so many hypothetical scenarios of nuclear war but basically its critical to have the capability, regardless of how command, control or politicians work. We can change the policy anytime, mate the warheads into the missiles in peacetime itself, it all depends on political situation, level of preparedness, reaction time. WMDs are as important conventional military strength, probably more important in Indian Scenario considering two of our neighbors have lots of nukes.

apart from nukes one neighbor has terrosists while another neighbor has lots of infantry

[ajaymailed]

actually India may have been a bit late in developing these kind of long range weapons thanks to US pressure and lack of any serious R&D in 60s & 70s. Nukes were originally meant for China and without having credible delivery systems reaching anywhere in china, there wouldn't be any credible deterrence. Attempt in 1970s met with failure and program didn't start again untill in 1983. Thanks to MTCR and US pressure, Agni program faced furthers delays. Compared to this India started nuke development in late 60s and tested in 74, while ISRO started developing four-stage launch vehicle in 1970s and tested in 80.

if Project Valiant in 1970s was a success, todays missile force would have been completely different and far ahead. That normally should have been the timeline of Indias missile program, we indeed had the resources, outside help to achieve such a capability long ago but god had other plans.

[CommanderShawnzer]

this is a thread where true patriots marvel at thier country's nuke power

[icebags]

some clarification:
2.the so called missile defense shield even of USA after spending tens of billions of $ can only stop 1-2 missiles with a probability in the range of 90%. intercepting a missile with another missile is like trying to hit a bullet with another bullet midway in the air kinda like something you see in movies.it is very difficult & almost impossible if you consider a scenario of 4-5 or more missiles coming.missile defense shield is only to prevent 1-2 missiles from rouge states like north korea or some terrorist organization getting their hands on a missile.it is useless against a nation like USA or Russia having 1000s of missiles on an automated launch control.

conclusion:more than nukes it is the conventional military strength & strong political leadership which will benefit us more instead of 10000Km 12MIRV(multiple independently-launchable re-entry vehicle) capable Agni.....

2.> missile defense is pretty effective, read nightmare's post, also take example from the 1991 iraq war, iraq fired lots of scud missile to israel, and probably 80% of those incoming missiles were shot down by patriot missiles.

conclusion > nukes & long range ballistic missiles are not exactly conventional fighting tools. it's like a pike-man facing a swordsman. no matter how heavily armored a swordsman is, he will think twice before engaging a pikeman. its a tool of global political warfare.