Agni-V : India's First ICBM

Agni-V is a surface to surface, three stage, solid fuelled, nuclear capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by DRDO of India. This 50 tonnes missile can strike up to 5,000 km with a nuclear warhead of 1.1 tonne. Agni-V was test fired successfully on 19th April 2012 at 08:05am IST from Wheeler Island off the coast of Orissa.

This is the first time India has test-fired a three-stage, all solid-fuelled missile. Only China, France, Russia, United States, Britain and possibly Israel, are believed to have such long range nuclear capable weapons.

Agni-V ICBM has been designed with the addition of a third composite stage to the two-stage Agni-III missile. To reduce the weight it is built with high composite material. The 17.5-metre-long Agni-V is a canister launch missile system which ensures requisite operational flexibility and can be swiftly transported and fired from anywhere. Many new technologies including Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicles (MIRVs), ring laser gyroscope and accelerometer for navigation and guidance and carbon composite rocket motor casings were tested in the missile.

Agni-V will feature Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicles (MIRVs) with each missile being capable of carrying 2–10 separate nuclear warheads. Each warhead can be assigned to a different target, separated by hundreds of kilometres. MIRVs ensure a credible second strike capability even with few missiles.

The missile will bring the whole of Asia, including the northernmost parts of China, 70% of Europe and other regions under its strike envelope. This is the first time India has produced a missile that has brought China within its range and it is being considered a big deterrent capability. Currently, the longest-range Indian missile, the Agni-III, has a range of 3,500 kilometers and falls short of many major Chinese cities. Agni-V along with Agni-III will provide credible deterrent against china.  Indian authorities believe that Agni-V is more than adequate to meet current threat perceptions and security concerns.

After two more validation tests, Agni-V is expected to be inducted into the armed forces in the next two years.