India can launch a ballistic missile with a 10,000 km-range or even beyond which will take a preparatory time of about two years but there is “no need for a higher range (beyond 5,000 km) at the moment”, Defence Research and Development Organi-sation (DRDO) chief Avinash Chander said on Monday. His comments came just a day after the second successful test of the 5,000 km-range Agni-V Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) which, the DRDO chief said, would be inducted into the armed forces “within twoyears” by 2015.
“Range is no problem. We have the full capability to go to any range. It will take about two to two-and-a-half years,” Mr Chander said, adding that the propulsion and the motors have to be more powerful to achieve a higher range.
When asked specifically whether a 10,000 km-range could be met or even beyond that, Mr Chander said, “Yes, absolutely.” He said that the DRDO was however, more focused on accuracy of a missile. The DRDO chief also said any missile with a range of 5,000 km and beyond is termed as an ICBM.
The DRDO chief also said that in all future tests of the Agni-V, the missile would be launched from a canister. “It (the response time) will be in order of a few minutes from stop to launch and it will be very short,” he said.
Sources said this would be crucial if India ever had to respond immediately to a nuclear attack.
The DRDO will conduct between two to four more tests of the Agni-V before it is inducted into the armed forces.
It is widely understood that the Agni-V missile was developed as a strong deterrent to China as the missile is capable of hitting any part of that country. This perhaps explains why the DRDO feels that a longer range than 5,000 km is not required, as of now. The 5,000 km-range Agni-V missile cannot hit certain parts of the world like the US, for example, but a 10,000 km-range will perhaps ensure that such a missile can hit almost any part of the world.
In response to a question, the DRDO chief said that “no Agni-VI” project had yet been decided upon but added that after Agni-V, the next project would inevitably be the Agni-VI. Sources indicated that the DRDO is now working on developing missiles with multiple warheads, which could well become the Agni-VI in future. The Agni-V is a missile with a single warhead.