Science & Technology, Defense, Environment
- Agni V launch shows India’s nuclear deterrence capability (Free Available)
- Nirbhaya and canister mounted Agni V to be launched (Free Available)
- U.S cybersecurity recommendations (Only for Online Coaching Members)
- Country to get first industry built spacecraft by 2017 (Only for Online Coaching Members)
Agni V launch shows India’s nuclear deterrence capability
- The test-firing of India’s most formidable ballistic missile, Agni-V , from the Abdul Kalam Island, of the Odisha coast, was an unalloyed success, signalling that India's nuclear deterrence capability has come of age.
- This is the fourth success in a row for Agni-V , which can carry a nuclear warhead weighing about 1.5 tonnes over a distance of 5,000 km and plus.
- It was the second time that Agni-V was fired from a canister mounted on a massive TATRA truck parked on the Island.
- A gas generator at the bottom of the canister kicked out the long-range, three-stage, surface-to-surface missile that weighed 50 tonnes, was 17 metres long and had a two-metre diameter.
- The previous Agni-V flight from a canister was on January 31, 2015. A missile launched from a canister mounted on a road-mobile launcher gives it operational flexibility.
- This means it can be fired from a road in a city, after stopping the traffic, giving reduced reaction time. The missile can be made vertical in three minutes and the launch takes a few more minutes.
- The two stages jettisoned and the missile accelerated as it plunged towards the earth. Its re-entry systems worked perfectly.
- The heat-shield made of carbon-car-bon composites and encasing the dummy warhead, withstood a temperature of about 4,000 degrees Celsius. The on-board computer guided the missile towards its impact point in the Indian Ocean.
- The bouquet of five Agnis form the bulwark of India's nuclear deterrence capability. While Agni-I has a range of 700 km, Agni-II 2,000 km, and Agni-III 3,000 km, Agni-IV can take out targets 4,000 km away.