The Agni-IV, India’s surface-to-surface nuclear-capable missile with a range of about 4,000 km, was test-fired from the Wheeler Island off Dhamra village on the Odisha coast at 10.54 am on Monday.
Test Range Director MVKV Prasad said the test was a hundred per cent success as it met all mission requirements. It was a developmental trial by the DRDO and a pre-induction test.
The Agni-IV, which is a strategic missile which can carry a nuclear warhead weighing about one tone, is the fourth in the Agni series of missiles and earlier known as the Agni II Prime. It is one of its kind and represents a quantum leap in terms of missile technology. The missile is lighter in weight and has two stages of solid propulsion and a payload with a reentry heat shield.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which has developed the Agni-IV, conducted the test-firing at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at the WheelerIsland.
The missile has already been tested thrice earlier. While the maiden launch was a failure, the next two were successful. The two-stage missile weighs 17 tonnes and is 20 metres long.
DRDO officials said that the Agni-IV offers a “fantastic nuclear deterrence” because with its range of 4,000 km, “it can cover the entire area on the other side of the border.” This means the weapon can cover the entire Pakistan and almost 90 per cent of China.
While the Army has already deployed the Agni-I, II and III missiles, all of which are strategic missiles carrying nuclear warheads, the Agni-IV and Agni-V have not been inducted into the Army yet.
The DRDO has achieved two consecutive successes including its debut flight with the Agni-V, which can carry a nuclear warhead weighing one tonne over a distance of 5,000 km. The DRDO would fire the Agni-V from a canister in the next two or three months, sources said.