India test fires nuclear capable Agni Prime missile

India achieved another major milestone in the defence sector as the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) along with the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) on Wednesday (Apr 3) conducted a successful flight test of nuclear capable Ballistic Missile Agni-Prime from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of the state of Odisha.

The launch took place at around 7:00 PM (IST). Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, the Chief of Strategic Forces Command and senior officials from the DRDO and the Indian Army witnessed the launch. Gen Chauhan and Chairman DRDO Samir V Kamat appreciated the efforts of the SFC and DRDO.

An official release by the government confirmed that the test met all the trial objectives validating its reliable performance as confirmed from the data captured by a number of Range Sensors deployed at different locations including two Downrange ships placed at the terminal point.

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"Congratulate @DRDO_India on the successful flight testing of New Generation Ballistic Missile 'Agni-Prime' from Dr Abdul Kalam Island, off the coast of #Odisha," the Chief Minister of Odisha said in a post on the social media platform.

Agni-Prime missile hasa strike range of 1,000 to 2,000 km, and it will be inducted in the armed forces soon.

Watch the video here:

Agni Prime with MARV+MIRV capability successfuly tested tonight by DRDO. 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/6ARKe99lUk — Frontalforce 🇮🇳 (@FrontalForce) April 3, 2024

Agni-5 missile

Last month, DRDO scientists successfully conducted the maiden flight test of the indigenously developed Agni-5 missile named Mission Divyastra, with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology.

It was also carried out from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island. Various telemetry and radar stations tracked and monitored multiple re-entry vehicles. The mission accomplished the designed parameters.

The MIRV technology delivers multiple nuclear warheads to different targets fired from the same missile on the Agni-5 platform. A single missile would be capable of delivering multiple warheads. Agni-5 has the capability of hitting multiple targets at once, at varying speeds and in different directions.

The test of Agni-5 made India enter the elite list of nations havingMIRV technology, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, China and France. Pakistan also claimed to have tested the MIRV missile the Ababeel in 2017.

(With inputs from agencies)