Context:

• India successfully test-fired nuclear-capable long-range ballistic missile Agni-V. The missile was launched from a canister on a road mobile-launcher from Dr. Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha.

Details:

• This is the third successful launch of Agni-V this year and the fifth launch of the missile in a canisterised form
• The mission critical avionics were indigenously designed and developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad
• All the mission objectives were successfully achieved. This launch comes after a series of successful launches of the missile. It further strengthens the country’s deterrence capability, which has been developed indigenously by assiduous efforts of scientists

About Agni V:

• Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) with a strike range of over 5,000 km and can reach most parts of China.
• It is three-stage solid propellant nuclear-capable missile
• It is a surface-to-surface missile. Capable of carrying nuclear warheads of over one tonne
• It carries Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles (MIRV) payloads. A single MIRV equipped missile that can deliver multiple warheads at different targets.
• It is also a fire and forget missile, which once fired cannot be stopped, except by interceptor missile which only US, Russia and Israel have.
• The missile has been designed to hit the designated target point accurately, guided by the on-board computer with the support of a Ring Laser Gyro-based Inertial Navigation System, the Micro Inertial Navigation System, fully-digital control system and advanced compact avionics.