India successfully test fires Agni- 5, its surface to surface ballistic missile

India on October 27 successfully test-fired its surface to surface ballistic missile Agni -5 from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha. (Representative Image)

India on October 27 successfully test-fired its surface to surface ballistic missile Agni -5 from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha.

The missile, which uses a three-stage solid-fuelled engine, is capable of striking targets at ranges up to 5,000 kilometres with a very high degree of accuracy.

The successful test of Agni-5 is in line with India’s stated policy to have ‘credible minimum deterrence’ that underpins the commitment to ‘No First Use’. The launch approximately happened at 7:50 pm on October 27.

The missile is about 17-metre long, 2-metre wide and has launch weight of around 50 tonnes. It can carry a nuclear warhead of more than one tonne. At present, India has in its armoury of Agni series, Agni-1 with 700 km range, Agni-2 with 2,000 km range, Agni-3 and Agni-4 with 2,500 km to more than 3500 km range.

Recently, a US congressional report also stated that India is among the select few countries which are developing hypersonic missiles. India has collaborated with Russia on the development of BrahMos II, a Mach 7 hypersonic cruise missile, the CRS report said.

Although BrahMos II was initially intended to be fielded in 2017, news reports indicate that the programme faces significant delays and is now scheduled to achieve initial operational capability between 2025 and 2028.

India is also developing an indigenous, dual-capable hypersonic cruise missile as part of its Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle programme and successfully tested a Mach 6 scramjet in June 2019 and September 2020, the report noted.

India operates approximately 12 hypersonic wind tunnels and is capable of testing speeds of up to Mach 13, said the Congressional report which was prepared by independent subject area experts for members of the US Congress.

(With inputs from PTI)