India successfully test-fired the long-range nuclear capable Agni-5 ballistic missile off Odisha Coast

The indigenously developed surface-to-surface nuclear capable ballistic missile Agni-5 with a strike range of 5,000 km was successfully test-fired from Dr Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast, days after the 20th anniversary of Pokhran – II nuclear tests. India celebrated the 20th anniversary of Pokhran Nuclear test on May 11. India had carried out five underground nuclear tests in Pokhran in the Thar desert in Rajasthan on May 11 and 13, 1998. The surface-to-surface missile was launched with the help of a mobile launcher from launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Dr Abdul Kalam Island in the Bay of Bengal at 9.48 am, defense officials said.

The missile will eventually be inducted into the tri-service, Strategic Forces Command, which manages India’s nuclear arsenal. With the Agni-5, India will become part of a small group of countries having ICBMs range of 5,000-5,500 km) — only the US, China, Russia and France are known to have ICBMs.

“The flight performance of the missile was tracked and monitored by radars, tracking instruments and observation stations all through the mission,” the officials said.

Unlike other missiles in the series ,Agni-5 is the most advanced with new technologies in terms of navigation and guidance, warhead, and engine, said a Defence Research and Development Organisation or DRDO official.

Agni-5’s navigation systems, very high accuracy Ring Laser Gyro based Inertial Navigation System or RINS, and the most modern and accurate Micro Navigation System or MINS ensured that the missile reached its target with precision.

The Agni-5 missile has a high speed on-board computer and fault tolerant software along with robust and reliable bus. Its path is precisely directed by the advanced on-board computer and inertial navigation system.

The three-stage, 17-metre tall, two-metre wide Agni-5 missile is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead of about 1.5 tonnes. The missile also has higher reliability, longer shelf life, less maintenance and enhanced mobility.

At present, apart from the Agni-5, other Agni missiles that India has in its armoury 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 more than 3,500 km range.

This was the sixth trial of the state-of-the-art Agni-5. It was last tested on January 18 this year.