Apr 4, 2010

ShapingDeterrence Agni-1, Prithvi III, Dhanush Success

      Indiasuccessfully carried out user tests of indigenously developed, nuclear-capable,short range ballistic missile (SRBM) Agni-1 from the Integrated Test Range(ITR) at Wheeler Island."It was a fantastic mission carried out by the Indian Army. The test-fireof the Agni-I missile met all parameters," director of ITR S P Dashsaid.  "After piercing the sky, the missile re-entered the earth'satmosphere and its dummy warhead impacted in the waters of the Bayof Bengal in the down range," a defence official said fromthe launch site, adding that the guidance and re-entry system worked well.Weighing 12 tonnes, the 15 metre tall Agni-1, can carry payloads weighing up toone tonne and has already been inducted into the Indian Army and has a range of700 kms. 

      Usertest firing of indigenously developed ballistic missiles 'Prithvi II' and'Dhanush' from different locations off the Orissa coast were also carried out.  "The tests were successful. Both themissiles test-fired met all the parameters," the director of theIntegrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, S P Dash was quoted by the PTI. 

      The'Prithvi II' with 295 km range was test-fired from complex-3 of ITR Chandipur,from a mobile launcher while the 'Dhanush' was fired from INS-Subhadra in theBay of Bengal near Puri at around 0544 hours by the Navy personnel as part ofuser training exercise.     The Defence Minister ShriA.K. Antony congratulated scientists of Defence Research DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO) for the successful testof DHANUSH and PRITHVIII missiles, which was carried out off Orissa coast. The Minister in hismessage said that hard work put up by our people over the years despite stringentinternational sanctions have started showing results. Shri Antony wished themgood luck in their all such future endeavours too. [MOD India Press Release andmedia reports]. 

            Theoperationalisation of the Agni 1, Prithvi II and Dhanush is good news forIndian strategic deterrent though these have very short range the same has nowbeen user tried thereby developing confidence in the system by the army and thenavy which is important. While there were many concerns in the past withfailure of Agni III series and some apprehensions by the Strategic ForcesCommand on the efficacy of some of the missiles, to some extent these could beallayed. The Indian deterrent range operationalised so far is only 700 kms asagainst what the Agni II, III and the V series which may fructify in a fewyears with a range of  2000, 3500 and5000 kms respectively. 
 

There was howeverdisappointment as the Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor missile,encountered coordination problem and failed to take off during a planned launchfrom the Integrated TestRange at WheelerIsland off Orissa coast."Coordinated exercise between target missile Prithvi from Chandipur andthe indigenously built interceptor from WheelerIsland could not take placeproperly during the planned trial," defence sources were quoted by themedia. The Prithvi - target missile - was test-fired at 10.02 hrs from a mobilelauncher from ITR's launch complex-3 at Chandipur-on-sea, 15 km from here, theinterceptor missile failed to blast off possibly as the target missile mighthave deviated from its stipulated trajectory

APRIL 2010

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