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Defence & Security
Mahesh

12/03/24 04:06 AM IST

Mission Divyastra

In News
  • India recently announced the successful testing of an Agni missile capable of carrying multiple warheads meant to hit multiple targets simultaneously.
Agni 5 missile
  • Agni is a long-range missile developed indigenously by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, DRDO.
  • The family of Agni missiles has been in the arsenal of the Indian armed forces since the early 1990s.
  • This latest variant of the missile is equipped with what is known as MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle) technology, first developed at least five decades ago but in possession of only a handful of countries.
MIRV technology
  • The MIRV can target multiple targets that can be hundreds of kilometers apart with a single missile.
  • This Agni, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, has a range of more than 5,000 km, making it a long-range missile, and is aimed mainly at thwarting the challenge from China.
  • As of now, the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom are known to have MIRV-equipped missiles.
  • These missiles can be launched from land or from sea from a submarine.
  • While Pakistan is developing such a missile system, Israel too is suspected to either possess the missile or be developing it.
Types of Agni-5
  • Medium to Intercontinental versions of Agni missile systems 1 to 5 have varying ranges — starting from 700 km for Agni-1 to 5000 km and above for Agni-5.
  • In June 2021, DRDO successfully tested Agni P, a canisterised missile with a range capability between 1,000 and 2,000 km.
  • This means that the missile can be launched from road and rail platforms, making it easier for it to be deployed and launched at a quicker pace.
Significance
  • The MIRV is also difficult to develop, which is why very few countries have them.
  • The development of MIRV technology is not easy.
  • It requires the combination of large missiles, small warheads, accurate guidance, and a complex mechanism for releasing warheads sequentially during flight.
  • While the USA had the technology in 1970 and the Soviet Union followed suit in the same decade, since then, only a few countries have the MIRV capabilities, a club India has now joined.
Source- Indian Express

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