Last
week, India's most powerful strategic Inter- Continental ballistic
missile Agni V, was successfully fired from a hermetically sealed canister mounted on a
TATRA truck stationed on the Wheeler Island off Odisha state of
India. This is the third successful launch of the missile, yet it is
sort of its first launch from a mobile launching platform. Success of
this test means that the missile can now be launched even from a
roadside. Agni-V would be the deadliest of India's missiles as it can
carry a 1.1 tonne nuclear warhead over a distance of 5000 Km or more.
India
is hardly a war mongering country. People are peaceful by nature.
Many Indians and in particular foreigners are therefore naturally
curious to know about the need of India for such an missile? Answer
to that is very simple, India has two neighbours on its west and
east, who are ruled by hostile regimes, who keep on creating trouble
on India's borders. This means that India must have a strongest
deterrent that would restrain these two from raking up any major
trouble as they have done in past. What better way is there for
deterrence, than having a nuclear tipped missile ready with us that
can hit even remotest corners of our hostile neighbours?
So
what Agni-5 can do? The Agni-V is the most advanced version of the
indigenously built Agni ( Fire), series, part of a programme that
started in the 1960s. First tested in April 2012, it is mostly
domestically built and has a range of about 5,000 km (3,100 miles).
This means that it can even reach Beijing in China and much of
Europe.
What
is a canister launch and how different it is from a launch-pad
launch? In a canister launch, missile is lifted up from ground
without firing its rocket engines by means of the thrust of
compressed gas generated by a gas generator at the bottom of the
canister. First stage of the rocket fires only after the rocket
reaches a height of about 30 meters (more than 90 feet). This launch
method ensures safety of personnel on ground, who otherwise would
have to be positioned far away from the launch pad.
17
meter long Agni-V is a three stage rocket, with engines igniting and
lifting the nose cone containing the nuclear war-head one after
another to a height of 500 Km. The nose cone then comes down on a
ballistic path. It has to withstand searing temperatures of more than
3,000 degrees Celsius before it arrives at pre-designated target. In
this week's test, everything went on with clockwork precision. The
first stage ignited after 30 meters and later separated. The
subsequent two stages also got decoupled, when rocket descended
rapidly. After about 20 minutes or so, the nose cone with a dummy
payload impacted a pre-designated point in Indian ocean.
The
health of the missile during its successful flight was continuously
monitored by a network of radars, electro-optical tracking systems
and telemetry stations, besides two ships stationed near the impact
point monitored the and recorded the terminal event.
The
grand success of the flight was perhaps a touching farewell to Mr.
Avinash Chander, the architect of Agni-V, who relinquished his
office on that very day.
Here is a launch video.
Here is a launch video.
For an
individual or a nation, safety has to be its paramount concern.
Relevance and necessity of Agni V can therefore never be in doubt.
It has to be ready all the time, so all the Indians can sleep
peacefully. This week's test has made India little more secure as
the missile is expected to be inducted into service in a year after a
few more canister trials.
2nd
February 2015
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