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Defence & Security
Mahesh

17/03/24 08:24 AM IST

MIRV missiles

In News
  • Indigenously developed Agni V missile with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-Entry Vehicle technology was successfully-tested as part of Mission Divyastra recently.
Significance of MIRVs
  • A MIRV is a ‘missile bus’ whose passengers are nuclear bombs and which facilitates a single booster to deliver them to different targets.
  • “In 1970, the U.S. started to deploy the Minuteman III, the first MIRV-ed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with three warheads on each missile.
  • In 1971, it deployed the Poseidon, the first MIRV-ed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) which had the capability of carrying up to 10 warheads on each missile.
  • The Soviet Union followed the U.S. and by the 1970s developed its own MIRV-ed ICBM and SLBM technology.
  • A Russian MIRV-ed missile under development may be able to carry up to 16 warheads, each in a separate re-entry vehicle, according to the Centre for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, and some MIRV-ed missiles can hit targets as far as 1,500 km apart.
  • The U.K. and France also possess the technology.
  • China has developed and deployed MIRV technology with multiple warheads placed on its DF-5B ICBMs and is fast expanding and modernising its nuclear arsenal.
Mission Divyastra
  • MIRV system is equipped with indigenous avionics systems and high accuracy sensor packages that ensure the re-entry vehicles reach the target points with the desired accuracy.
  • The ‘Agni’ series of missiles constitute the backbone of India’s nuclear weapons delivery, and Agni V is the longest range missile in the arsenal, with a reach of over 5,000 km.
  • This means it can reach most of China, especially with a smaller warhead, which would increase the range further. MIRV technology gives better leverage in this regard.
  • A MIRV-ed missile enhances the redundancy as a single missile can perform the role of several.
  • It can help defeat ballistic missile defences, which is important since India’s adversaries are deploying sophisticated air defences.
Source- The Hindu

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