|
The Agni-V, to be developed under the Integrated
Guided Missile Development Programme, has moved
out of the drawing board and currently the technical
evaluation of the sub-systems is being carried
out, DRDO chief and scientific advisor to the
Defence Minister V.K. Saraswat said.
"The first launch will be in an year's time,
then a couple of tests and then we can think of
induction. We are confident that the building
blocks (for the Agni-III missiles) are in fairly
matured stage," Saraswat told newsmen here
after DRDO’s successful test of Agni-III.
The three-stage missile will be similar to Agni-III
in design and diameter, with its length five metres
more than it. But Agni-V can carry a 1.5 ton nuclear
warhead.
"Agni-III design is frozen... Agni-V has
crossed material cutting stage and subsystem testing
is going on. Agni-V is a derivative of Agni-III.
Practically it is the same missile but it is five
metres longer and one tonne heavier. Its navigation
system is same.
"Sixty percent missile is available and
we are just adding another stage. It will be a
three-stage missile and it is the first time we
will be building a three-stage missile,"
Saraswat pointed out.
The missile marks the near-culmination of the
Agni series of strategic missile programme, and
Saraswat said that DRDO does not have any plans
to make a full fledged Intercontinental Ballistic
Missile.
“Agni-V is 5,000 km plus range. The range
is adequate for our strategic needs. We do not
have ICBM programme. Our threat mitigation demands
this range,” said Saraswat.
It may be noted that DRDO gets into a research
programme after indications from the government
about the threat perceptions and the need for
dissuasive diplomacy and deterrence to ward off
hostile elements around India. Privately, Indian
scientists say that propulsion is not much of
a problem and the requirement for long-range precision
has also been addressed “more or less.”
All programmes need to be tweaked with more tests
and experience, but what the DRDO eventually undertakes
and develops is in accordance with government
directives.
There is not specific directive for an ICBM,
a missile with – or in excess of – 5,500
km. Agni-V will be a quantum jump though as not
many countries have home-grown ballistic missile
technology for this range.
The DRDO has been able to set its eye on Agni-V
as Agni-III, with its range of 3,500 km, is ready
for induction after successful trial conducted
by the Strategic Forces Command, the user, on
Feb 7.
Programme director Avinash Chander said: "Agni-III
has completed three successful trials. Now we
can start doing the induction process. It is 100
percent indigenous with more than 80 percent coming
from the Indian industries."
Saraswat said the technology of Agni-III is better
than that of China in terms of accuracy. The Agni-III
system is rail-mobile, like Agni-II. The future
5,000-km-range missile is planned to be road-mobile.
That gives it immunity from vulnerability. The
second thing is that it can reach targets that
no aircraft can reach.
The Agni-III missile system has state-of-the-art
inertial guidance, highly accurate sensors with
high immunity from jamming. It has no communication
with the ground once it takes off, so you cannot
jam its electronics.
China had only one missile in the 2500-km category,
the DF-21 and was now focused only on building
intercontinental range missiles (ICBMs) of the
DF-31 and DF-41 in the 6000- 10,000 km range.
Both stages of Agni-III are powered by solid
propellants. It is 17 metres long, has a diameter
of two metres and a launch weight of 50 tonnes.
It can carry payloads weighing 1.5 tonnes.
The first test, from the same defence base on
July 9, 2006, was unsuccessful. The second stage
of the rocket had failed to separate from the
missile quickly enough and the missile had fallen
short of its target.
The DRDO-developed missile was tested again on
April 12, 2007 and May 9, 2008, and both the tests
were successful.
Agni-III, one of the Agni series missiles, has
a length of 17 metres, a diameter of 2 metres
and a launch weight of 50 tonnes.
Agni-III has been an important programme, primarily
because the Agni-I and Agni-II systems were an
extension of technologies we were using since
the 1970s. They had virtually reached the limit
of their capabilities. Agni-I has a 700-km range,
which can be extended with minor modifications.
Agni-II has a 2,000-km limit.
The DRDO began real work on Agni-III only in
2001. It was the first time that the DRDO had
taken up fabrication of such large rocket motors
- two metres in diameter, with about 30 tonnes
of solid propellants in the first stage and nine
tonnes in the second stage. It had flexible nozzle
control, which no other country had used for the
first stage, during the atmospheric phase of the
flight.
The payload re-entry itself was a challenge because
its velocity was five metres a second with a very
steep re-entry lasting not more than 20 to 25
seconds, ambient temperatures going to 4,000°Celsius,
skin temperatures reaching 2,500°Celsius and
the deceleration going down anywhere between 30
g and 16 g. So, the whole environment was totally
different from that of even Agni-II.
The successful Agni series missiles have given
India anti-satellite capability, but the DRDO
said it would not demonstrate it by hitting a
real satellite.
Saraswat, asserted that India had the building
blocks ready for anti-satellite capability.
"With the successful testing of Agni-III,
we have the propulsion system which can be used
to propel a kill vehicle in the orbit. We have
the capability required to guide a kill vehicle
towards the satellite," he said.
"We have the capability for interception
of satellite. But we do not have to test because
it is not our primary objective. There are repercussions
of satellite interception like debris flying in
the space.
"Today we can validate the anti-satellite
technology on ground through simulation. There
will be no direct hit of satellite. If the nation
wants, we can have it ready," Saraswat added.
|
