Agni IV and Agni III missiles launched by India

India on 19th september 2012 successfully test-fired nuclear weapons capable Agni-IV for its full range of 4,000 km from the Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast.

The missile lifted off from a road mobile launcher at 11.48 a.m. and after zooming to an altitude of over 800 km, it re-entered the atmosphere and impacted near the pre-designated target in the Indian Ocean with remarkable degree of accuracy following a 20-minute flight.

Carrying a payload of explosives weighing a tonne, the missile re-entered the atmosphere and withstood searing temperatures of more than 3,000°C.

The developmental trial of the long range ballistic weapon system was conducted by missile technologists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which designed and developed it.

Talking The Hindu from Wheeler Island, Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister V.K. Saraswat said “ we had an excellent launch”. He said the two-stage solid-propelled missile performed as per the normal parameters right from the lift-off till the terminal event when it impacted the target point with a “two-digit” accuracy. He said the data showed that the missile followed pre-determined path with an accuracy of less than 100m. Two naval ships located down range recorded the trajectory of the missile and the terminal phase and transmitted the data in real time. He said the success of the mission reinforced the robustness of the design and various subsystems.

Dr. Saraswat said Agni-IV would be inducted into the services next year after undertaking one more developmental trial. He said, "The mission confirms reliability and robustness of the missile. It demonstrates India's missile technology has become highly mature and we can now design any missile for any mission, depending on the threat profile. Technologically, today we are at par with the best in the world. We have complete industrial infrastructure which helped us to realise Agni-IV".

He said the series of successful missions — Agni-V, followed by Agni-I, Agni-II, Prithvi-II and Agni-IV now showed that these missiles could be launched on demand in a very short time.

Avinash Chander, Chief Controller (Missiles and Strategic Systems), DRDO said Agni-IV was tested in its full operational scenario and the missile fully proved itself in all respects. He said the deliverable road mobile launcher configuration was also validated in this mission. Observing that it was one of the lightest long-range missiles of its class, he said it would be a potent addition to the strategic forces.

Tessy Thomas, Project Director for Agni-IV, said it was an excellent flight and met all the parameters up to the final event. It was a text-book launch for the second consecutive Agni-IV mission, she added.

Meanwhile, the Strategic Force Command personnel launched nuclear weapons capable Agni-III surface-to-surface ballistic missile on September 21, 2012 . - The Hindu