All eyes on second trial of Agni V
After a couple of postponements, the nation is finally looking forward to the second experimental trial of its most potent and longest range nuclear capable ballistic missile Agni-V which has the ability to target all of Asia, the Middle East and parts of Europe.
The indigenously developed surface-to-surface 5000-km range missile has been scheduled to be test launched from a mobile launcher at the Wheeler Island test facility of Integrated Test Range (ITR) off the Odisha coast on Sunday.
Talking exclusively to Express on Friday, Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister, and DRDO Chief, Avinash Chander confirmed that the missile test was on schedule and it would be test fired any time before Sunday noon.
“The trial is aimed at revalidating some new technologies incorporated in the Agni-V system and gauging the performance of its subsystems. The mission team has worked minutely and meticulously to achieve success with high accuracy,” he hoped.
The Agni-V missile is the most advanced long-range ballistic missile capable of being launched within minutes, from a self-contained road mobile launcher. In terms of technologies, it is country’s most advanced strategic missile and incorporates many new indigenously developed technologies. The missile which can carry a payload of 1.5 tonne is 17 meter long, 2 meter wide and weighs around 50 tonnes. DRDO is reported to have been working to equip the missile with Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicles through which each missile can carry 2 to 10 separate nuclear warheads and strike at different places.