January 31, 2015 by Livefist

India's Agni V ballistic missile -- its longest range nuclear delivery system -- was tested today from a canister launcher in a cold launch configuration at the Wheeler Island test range off the country's east coast. Awaiting details, but these images released officially pretty much suggest that it went well. I'll update this post with technical specifics later in the day, but suffice it to say at this point that the leap such a capability provides to the nuclear command, military planners and missile unit personnel in terms of transportability, logistical flexibility and preparatory stealth is milestone stuff.

The test is being seen as a grateful sayonara to Dr Avinash Chander, chief of the DRDO, and widely regarded as the engine of the Agni programme during a critical phase, and during his own leadership of the Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL). Today is Dr Chander's last day in office (I had interviewed him when he took over in 2013), following the curtailment of his extended tenure by the government.

OFFICIAL STATEMENT: India’s ICBM Agni 5 was successfully test fired from a canister today 31 Jan 2015 at 0809 hrs. It was a historic moment when for the first time in India, an ICBM about 17m long and weighing  over 50 ton majestically rose from the confines of its canister. At the predetermined moment, having risen to about 20 meters height, it’s first stage motor ignited lifting Agni 5 into the sky. The flight continued on its predetermined path during which the second, all composite light weight motor, followed by the third, innovatively designed conical all composite rocket motor propelled the missile into space taking it to a height of more than 600 km. The missile, after reaching peak of its trajectory turned towards earth to  continue its journey towards the intended target with a speed now increasing due to the attraction of earth’s gravitational pull and its path precisely directed by the advanced on-board computer and inertial navigation system. As the missile entered earth’s atmosphere, the atmospheric air rubbing the skin of the missile during the re-entry phase raised the temperature to beyond 4000 degree Celsius. However, the indigenously designed and developed carbon-carbon composite heat shield continued to burn sacrificially protecting in the process the payload, maintaining the inside temperature below 50 degree Celsius. Finally, commanded by the on-board computer with a support of highly accurate ring laser gyro based inertial navigation system, the most modern micro inertial navigation system (MINS), fully digital control system and advanced compact avionics, the missile hit the designated target point accurately, meeting all mission objectives.

Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor congratulated Dr Avinash Chander and the Mission team for the successful launch, over a tele-conversation. Congratulating team Agni, Air Chief Marshal Anup Raha, PVSM, AVSM, VM, Chairman Chiefs of staff committee and Chief of Air Staff, who had witnessed the entire launch operations from the  control room called it a great achievement. Lt Gen Amit Sharma AVSM, VSM, Cdr in Chief  Strategic Forces Command, also present on the occasion,  called it a fantastic achievement.

Addressing the gathering and project team, a happy and satisfied Dr Avinash Chander, Secretary DDR&D, SA to RM and DG DRDO said, “This is a momentous occasion. It is India’s first ever ICBM launch from a canister and is a  giant leap in country’s  deterrence capability”.  He termed it a copy book launch with entire command network functioning in loop. Dr Avinash Chander congratulated the entire DRDO community for the tremendous efforts put in by them in making the country self reliant in the area of long range missile systems. He thanked them for demonstrating such a great success on the last day of his work in DRDO. Dr Avinash said, “I cherished every moment of my service in DRDO and I thank you all for the relentless support given to me all through. I am leaving with a great satisfaction of equipping the country with such advanced missiles. I wish the entire DRDO community a great future”.

Earlier, announcing the success of the mission, Dr VG Sekaran, Mission Director, Prog. Dir. Agni and DG Missiles and Strategic Systems said “All mission objectives have been achieved, down range ships have confirmed final splashdown, the mission is a great success and it is a momentous occasion”. A jubilant Dr Rajesh Kr Gupta, Project Director Agni5, described the success as “historic achievement; a dream fulfilled”.

The Ships located in midrange and at the target point tracked the Vehicle and witnessed the final event.  All the radars and electro-optical systems along the path monitored all the parameters of the Missile and displayed in real time. The earlier two flights of Agni 5, fully successful were in open configuration and had already proved the missile. Today’s launch from a canister integrated with a mobile sophisticated launcher, was in its deliverable configuration that enables launch of the missile with a very short preparation time as compared to an open launch. It also has advantages of higher reliability, longer shelf life, less maintenance and enhanced mobility.

Dr G Satish Reddy, DS & Director, RCI, Dr Manas K Mandal, DS & DG LS, Dr GS Malik, CCR&D HR, Dr Tessy Thomas, Director ASL, Dr PS Subramaniam DS & PGDCA and Dir ADA, Dr Manmohan Singh Dir VRDE, Shri Manjit Singh, Director TBRL and Dr SK Patel, Director Quality Reliability and Safety were among other senior DRDO scientists present on the occasion.

Artist's impression of the launch of a Agni V missile.

November 29, 2011 By Bhartendu Kumar Singh / Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) – defpro.com

India’s Defence Research and Development Agency (DRDO) recently declared that it would be testing, for the first time, a 5000 km range Agni V missile by February 2012. It is construed to be a major leap in the country’s missile capability, over and above the 3000 km range Agni III missile that has already been accepted for induction into the armed forces, and Agni IV that has also been tested successfully. Together, these missiles are supposed to give a new meaning to India’s deterrence against China, since the new missiles, once operationally deployed, can reach distant but strategically important Chinese cities like Shanghai. But will the new feat in India’s armory dilute its ‘security dilemma’ against China?

For the record, the February trials of Agni V would be followed by a series of modifications and further trials. So it will take at least couple of years before the new missiles pass the entire test and are inducted and deployed in reasonable numbers in the Indian army. The 2014 deadline, as declared by the DRDO, seems to be a difficult target and may get delayed by a couple of years. Agni V apart, India is also lagging behind in developing the other components of the deterrence basket that it seeks to construct against China. These include, among others, a credible ballistic missile defence (BMD); the country has had limited success in intercepting incoming missiles with a range of 2000 km. DRDO’s claims notwithstanding, it will take many more years before India has similar deterrence for missiles that have a range up to 5000 km.

In designing the Agni V prototype against China, the Indian defence establishment realizes that all important cities and vital locations in China are either in the eastern or northern parts, far away from Indian soil, and thus would require accuracy and precision that would require iterated testing. This is a time consuming process. Further, the real challenge from China is near the LAC where the Chinese have gained strategic advantage over India in all aspects of military preparations. Missiles, whether of a short or long-range, would be of no use to India in deterring a Chinese pushover ‘near the LAC’. India would require effective air power capable of defending its interests in border areas. Unfortunately, this is an area where India lags far behind China.

While Agni I and II are Pakistan-specific, Agni III, IV and V are China-specific. And yet, the far-off regions of China would still be out of reach for Indian missiles. Perhaps that explains why these missiles are not able to engender confidence against China. Cost-effective deterrence against China demands that India work out on an advanced version of Agni V capable of striking at 6000 km that will bring most of China within its target range. If missile defence is going to be the core element of India’s deterrence capability against China, the political leadership must give the go-ahead to an Agni VI project aimed exclusively at China.

In this context, China stands as an example. China’s missile programme has been a key area of its military modernization and is ahead of India by at least a decade. Today, China has all range missiles capable of reaching global locations. While it has deployed a sizeable number of SRBMs off the Taiwan Strait, it has also deployed IRBMs against India that are located in Tibet and Xinjiang. These missiles can attack any target in India and are in operational deployment. In order to improve its regional deterrence against India, as the US Department of Defense Report on Chinese military power (2010) reveals, China has now replaced older liquid-fuelled, nuclear capable CSS-3 IRBMs with more advanced and survivable solid-fuelled CSS-5 MRBMs.

Missiles apart, China is also way ahead in other aspects of military modernization. In January this year, China confirmed its first test flight of the J-20 stealth fighter jet. Thus, China is making progress faster than expected in developing a rival to Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor, the world’s only operational stealth fighter designed to evade detection by enemy radar. This will be over and above its most advanced aircraft presently in service: the Russian Su-30 and Su-27 fighters. As for the navy, President Hu Jintao has already made its modernization a priority. The PLA navy is upgrading its destroyers and frigates to sail further and strike deeper. China could also launch its first aircraft carrier by next year.

The speed and scope of Chinese military modernization has been seen with concern in New Delhi as evident from annual reports of India’s Ministry of Defence in recent years. Yet, the pace and nature of Indian military modernization is painfully slow and the asymmetric gap with China has only been widening. The development, testing and deployment of Agni V are not going to reduce this strategic reality. India needs to provide more vigour, focus, and perhaps resources, to its military modernization programme in order to manage the security dilemma with China.