Agni-5 can deliver a nuclear bomb anywhere in China

TIL Desk/National/Odisha/The Agni-5 intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) was successfully test-fired on Monday morning from A P J Abdul Kalam Island, off the Odisha coast. The missile’s payload splashed down 20 minutes after launch, precisely on target in the Southern Indian Ocean. ‘All the radars, tracking systems and Range Stations tracked and monitored the flight performance and all the mission objectives were successfully met,’ announced the defence ministry.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar tweeted their congratulations after the test. ‘It will add tremendous strength to our strategic defence,’ said the PM. This is the fourth successive Agni-5 test launch that has gone to plan since the first launch on April 19, 2012. Monday’s test was the second in full operational mode, with the missile launched from its storage canister.

The road-mobile canister protects the deployed missiles, allowing them to be stored for years. Yet, it permits launch in minutes, including the time needed for mating the nuclear warhead (stored separately) with the missile. Agni-5 is now ready to enter service with the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) as the backbone of India’s China-specific nuclear deterrent. Its 5,000-kilometre range allows it to deliver a nuclear payload anywhere in China.