With the growing threat of China on our eastern border and its activities on our western border growing day by day.This has made India uncomfortable. With Pakistan being armed by china for future conflict with India and act like a satellite state of China , it has become imperative for India to look for weapons which can strike Chinese cities. Thus DRDO has decided to test AGNI-V by the end of 2011 most probably in December.
One of the greatest advantage China has is its strategic depth due to its size which is much greater than that of India. At present most of the Northern regions of china are beyond the range of Indian missiles. On the other hand Chinese missiles can hit any Indian territory even when launched from deep within China like the Dong-Feng series of missiles.
Indian Army has already started inducting missiles with the range of 3,500km called AGNI-III, AGNI-I(700km+) and AGNI-II(2,000km +). AGNI-I is a medium, range Ballistic Missile while AGNI-II and AGNI-III are intermediate range ballistic missile. But the policy makers clearly realize that this is not enough we must have the option of nuclear strikes deep within Chinese territory specially targeting their shore based industrial complexes. To achieve that particular goal India is looking to fast-track Agni-V project. It may be remembered that few years back under pressure form China and the west this particular project was shelved by the Indian government.
Agni V unlike its predecessors is a canister launched missile which can be mobilized quickly by road. It will give India the much needed Nuclear strike capability. (It must be noted that Agni-V is still not intercontinental ballistic missile, thus it is called near ICBM). With high road mobility, fast-reaction ability and a strike range over 5,000 km, Agni-V would even bring China’s northernmost regions within its nuclear strike envelope if it is ever required.
India’s Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) has made its forthcoming Agni-5 missile highly road-mobile, or easily transportable by road, which would bring Harbin, China’s northernmost city within striking range if the Agni-5 is moved to northeast India,” the People’s Daily reported. Harbin is the capital of China’s Heilongjiang Province
The paper, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, noted that the Agni-5 which has a range of 5,000 km is similar to the Dongfeng-31A showcased during China’s National Day Military Parade on October 1 in Beijing. India is going to test-fire the missile in early 2011, the report claimed.
Agni-V would also carry MIRV (multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles) payloads being concurrently developed. A single MIRVed missile can deliver multiple warheads at different targets even if they are separated by long distances.
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