New Delhi: India has successfully test-fired an Advanced Agni missile with the strategic ability to deploy multiple payloads to separate targets simultaneously — a milestone that places the country among a select league of global powers.
The testing of the missile with Multiple Independently Targeted Re-Entry Vehicle (MIRV) system was carried out from Odisha’s APJ Abdul Kalam Island on Friday, according to the defence ministry.
The MIRV feature ensures that a single missile can deploy multiple war heads at different locations simultaneously.
While the ministry said the flight test of an advanced Agni missile with MIRV was carried out, authoritative sources said it was an Agni-5 missile and the trial was conducted to check the MIRV technology under ‘Mission Divyastra’ .
The maiden trial of the Agni-5 with MIRV was carried out in March last year.
“India conducted the successful flight-trial of an advanced Agni missile with Multiple Independently Targeted Re-Entry Vehicle (MIRV) system from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha on May 8,” the defence ministry said.
“The missile was flight-tested with multiple payloads, targeted to different targets spatially distributed over a large geographical area in the Indian Ocean Region,” it said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has complimented the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian Army, and the concerned industry partners on the successful flight-test of the missile.
This will add an incredible capability to the country’s defence preparedness against the growing threat perceptions, he said.
The ministry said the telemetry and tracking was carried out by multiple ground and ship-based stations.
“These systems tracked the entire missile trajectory from lift-off till the impact of all payloads. Flight data confirmed that all mission objectives were met during the trial,” it said.
“With this successful trial, India once again demonstrated the capability to target multiple strategic targets using a single missile system,” the ministry said in a statement.
The missile is developed by DRDO laboratories with the support of industries. The trial was witnessed by senior scientists of DRDO and the Indian Army personnel, according to the ministry.
Agni-5 missile has a range of up to 5,000 km. The Agni 1 to 4 missiles have ranges from 700 km to 3,500 km and they have already been deployed.
In April 2024, India successfully carried out the maiden flight trial of an endo-atmospheric interceptor missile from a ship off the coast of Odisha in the Bay of Bengal as part of its ambitious ballistic missile defence programme.
The purpose of the trial of the sea-based missile was to engage and neutralize a hostile ballistic missile threat thereby elevating India into an elite club of nations having such a capability.
India has been developing capabilities to intercept hostile ballistic missiles both inside and outside the earth’s atmospheric limits.
