Agni-V

Agni-V is an intercontinental ballistic missile developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of India. Agni V is part of the Agni series of missiles, one of the missile systems under the original Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. According to DRDO chief, the exact range of Agni V is "classified" or "understated" but afterwards he described Agni V as a missile with a range of 5,500–5,800 km. The controversial range of Agni 5 is stated to be around 8000 km as per Chinese reports.

Development

Senior defence scientist M. Natrajan disclosed in 2007 that DRDO was working on an upgraded version of the Agni III, known as the Agni-V (Earlier known as Agni-III* and Agni-IV), and that it would be ready in 4 years. The missile was to have a range of more than 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi).

The Agni-V is expected to be operational by 2014 to 2015 after four to five repeatable tests by the DRDO. Indian authorities believe that the solid-fuelled Agni-V is more than adequate to meet current threat perceptions and security concerns. The missile will allow India to strike targets across Asia and into Europe. The missile was designed to be easy to transport by road through the utilisation of a canister-launch missile system which is distinct from those of the earlier Agni missiles. Agni-V would also carry MIRV (multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles) payloads being concurrently developed. A single MIRV equipped missile can deliver multiple warheads at different targets.