India test-fires Agni-5 missile that can carry multiple warheads

India has successfully test-fired its indigenously built Agni-5 missile with multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle (MIRV) technology, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said.

MIRV technology allows a single missile to carry several warheads, each of which can be directed to a different target. Essentially, after launch, the missile travels outside the Earth’s atmosphere, and at a predetermined point, it releases its warheads. These warheads then re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and proceed to their individual targets independently.

Only a handful of countries possess such technology. 

The test, dubbed ‘Mission Divyastra’, was conducted from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha in which telemetry and radar stations tracked and monitored the ‘multiple re-entry vehicles’.

The mission accomplished the designed parameters, the DRDO said in a statement. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defence minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO scientists for the successful test. 

“Proud of our DRDO scientists for Mission Divyastra, the first flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile with multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle (MIRV) technology,” Modi said on X.

“India today successfully tested Mission Divyastra – the first flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile with MIRV technology and joined the select group of nations who have this capability,” the defence minister said on X.

“Congratulations to our @DRDO_India scientists and the entire team for this exceptional success. India is proud of them!” he added.

Agni-5 is equipped with indigenous avionics systems and high-accuracy sensor packages, which ensured that the re-entry vehicles reached the target points within the desired accuracy, a Press Trust of India report said.

The capability is evidence of India’s growing technological prowess, the report quoted an unidentified official as saying.

The surface-to-surface Agni-5 ballistic missile, which is capable of carrying nuclear warheads, has a range of up to 5,000km, bringing almost the entire Asia including the northernmost part of China and some parts of Europe within striking range.

Agni-5 uses a three-stage solid-fuelled engine and has gone through several rounds of tests, but it was the first time that MIRV was used in a flight test.

Agni-1 to -5 missiles are designed and developed by DRDO and inducted into services to act as deterrence and meet the country’s security requirements.