Strategic Forces Command test fires Agni

The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Army successfully fired an Agni-I missile from the Wheeler Island, off Odisha on December 01) to test the Command’s readiness to launch ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads. The Agni-I rose from a road-mobile launcher, a specially designed truck, at 9.30 a.m. and covered its targeted range in 600 seconds of flight. The missile accurately reached its targeted area in the Bay of Bengal.

The Agni-I, indigenously developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is already in the Army’s arsenal.

This was the fifth success in a row when a series of missiles were launched from September from the Wheeler Island. The flights included Shourya, Prithvi-II and Agni-II missiles in the last week of September and Agni-IV on November 15. The DRDO developed all these missiles. The DRDO laboratories that took part in designing and developing these missiles were

Advanced Systems Laboratory, Research Centre, Imarat and the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), all situated in Hyderabad.

An authoritative official said from the Wheeler Island that the Agni-I flight went off well on Thursday. Asked what was the range achieved, the official said: “Whatever range was targeted as per the requirements of the Army was achieved. The main objective was to train the user-team [SFC] in launching the missile. The user-team picked a missile at random from the production lot and fired it. All the missile’s systems worked well.” Several radars and telemetry stations situated along the coast tracked Agni-I. Two Naval ships positioned near the targeted area in the Bay of Bengal tracked the missile during the last stage of its flight.

The Agni-I is 15 metres tall and weighs 12 tonnes. It is a single-stage vehicle powered by solid propellants and can carry a one-tonne nuclear warhead. Its diameter is one metre. The missile can target areas 700 km away.

Among others who witnessed the Agni-I flight were V.K.Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, Avinash Chander, Chief Controller (Missiles and Strategic Systems), DRDO, J. Chattopadhyaya, Project Director and S.P. Dash, Director, Integrated Test Range which comprises the Wheeler Island. Dr. Saraswat, who is also DRDO Director-General and a missile technologist, congratulated the DRDO employees and the Army on the successful flight.