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Ever since India issued NOTAM (Notice to Air Men) in the third week of August, everyone waited with bated breath as to which will be that missile or war equipment that was going to be tested. NOTAM is issued for safety of civilian air traffic as also for marine vessels in a specified region and for a limited time duration, during which all aircrafts and marine vessels are meant to stay clear of the NOTAM marked zone.
In the present case, India had issued a NOTAM for 24 hours starting from 20 Aug and for a distance of 4795 Kms stretching from the Odisha coast to far southwards, deep into the Indian Ocean. The specifications of the NOTAM made it amply clear that India is going to test one of its long range missile. It must have been a matter of much interest mixed with concern and alarm to neighbours like Pakistan and China and to the world powers which matter. Even in India speculations were large about the exact type and class of missile being tested.
On 20 Aug, the eastern skies around the Integrated Missile Test Range at Chandipur, Odisha was momentarily lit up by the brightness of the launch of Agni 5 missile. As the missile majestically lifted from the Abdul Kalam island and streaked over the Bay of Bengal before it continued further south, its trajectory was eagerly followed by the Indian scientists and engineers who had developed the missile as also by rest of the world.
Agni 5 has been developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the launch was under the aegis of India’s Strategic Forces Command. It was later confirmed that all the operational and technical parameters have been successfully achieved with utmost satisfaction. With the successful launch and testing of Agni 5, India has added yet another potent and deadly munition to its impressive missile arsenal.
After the successful launch, testing and inclusion of various tactical and short range missiles like Akash, Prithvi and Agni 2 in its inventory, India now has Agni 5 which it has officially declared as a IRBM (Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile). Though the exact range of Agni 5 has not been made known, all IRBM generally have a range between 3000 Kms to 5500 Kms, which largely depends on the weight of war head it carries. The range decreases as the weight of the payload increases.
Some of the foreign media have termed Agni 5 as ICBM (Inter Continental Ballistic Missile) with a range of over 8000 Kms which rather confirms the concern and speculation by adversaries and foreign powers.
The missile has been indigenously developed in India and all its major components viz the three phase solid fuel propulsion system, the navigation and guidance system and the various war heads proudly carry the ‘Made in India’ brand. The complex and highly sophisticated micro-inertial navigation and guidance system which uses data and inputs from Indian satellite systems makes the Agni 5 a powerful ammunition with very high level of accuracy over such extended ranges. The missile can carry conventional as well as nuclear war heads.
All long range ballistic missiles including Agni5 generally have a exoatmospheric trajectory, wherein after launch the missile leaves the earth’s atmosphere and re-enters the same before homing on to the target. This gives the missile speed of travel and makes it difficult to be tracked and intercepted. Agni 5 also has MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle) capabilities, because of which it can carry around 10-12 separate maneuverable nuclear or conventional warheads. Each warhead can be assigned to a different target, separated by hundreds of kilometers; alternatively, two or more warheads can be assigned to one target. This makes Agni 5 potentially very effective and extremely lethal. One of the payloads of Agni 5 can be the new Bunker Bursting warhead developed by India.
By integrating this warhead with Agni 5, fortified bunkers up to a depth of 300 feet can be easily targeted. This can be quite a game changer as it will make most underground command centres and headquarters of Pakistan and China utterly vulnerable. Compare this with the bunker bursting GBU-57 used by USA to bomb the deep underground nuclear facilities of Iran in the recent Israel Iran conflict. The GBU-57 bombs were flown in by B-2 bomber aircrafts for several hours before being dropped over the target. In the case of Agni 5, such munitions of India will take only few minutes to reach and destroy their designated targets. While GBU-57 bombs attain a maximum speed of one or two mach before hitting the target, Indian bunker bursting munition will be hitting their targets with speeds upto 20 mach after re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere, thus giving them devastating kinetic energy for striking and penetrating deeper underground. Such a variety of warheads and the striking range of 3000 to 5500 Kms will temporarily balance the absence of fifth and sixth generation fighter aircrafts in Indian Air Force.
While the inclusion of Agni 5 in its armoury is definitely a shot in the arm in terms of India’s military power and self reliance, it must be a cause of very serious concern to our immediate neighbours viz Pakistan and China. The range and capability of India’s latest IRBM makes all the Military Command and Control Centres, Communication hubs, Nuclear facilities, Vital Installations, Armoured Tank formations, Air Force bases, Missile silos of Pakistan and China extremely vulnerable in case India is forced to make strategic pre-emptive conventional strikes. And in the likelihood of extreme eventuality like an existential threat, Agni 5 can also be used as one of the second strike capability. Besides this, Agni 5 can augment the already established Integrated Air Defence Command and Control System to plug possible gaps.
With its range of over 5000 kms and extended ranges with modifications and lighter payloads, Agni 5 can easily cover entire Asia including Turkiye, parts of Europe and Russia, Japan and the Northwest waters of Australia. The indigenous top quality target acquisition and navigational guidance systems of Agni 5 makes India a missile power house more than capable of having effective deterrence against nuclear and other threats. Obviously, the number and deployment of Agni 5, India’s longest range operational ballistic missile, will be decided by the topmost political body CCS (Cabinet Committee on Security) and experts from Strategic Forces Command which will and should understandably remain top secret.
And if the world is wondering what India is going to do next! Wait for Agni 6, which shall be a true blue Inter Continental Ballistic Missile capable of reaching every corner of the globe. And no guilty feeling for this please, members of the so called super powers club are already holding ICBMs. Why should only they enjoy the ballistic pleasure?
These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.