India on Friday successfully test-fired a short-range variant of the Agni ballistic missile. With a range of about 800-900 km, this nuclear-capable, gravity-propelled variant of Agni-1 seems to have been specifically designed keeping Pakistan in mind.
The surface-to-surface missile was launched from the Island Test Range off the Orissa coast at 8.45 am. Significantly, this solid-propellant Agni-I variant can be fired from road-mobile launchers.
“This launch is very significant for the operational aspects of our (nuclear) deterrence posture...and the designing and manufacturing of a new road-mobile launcher for this missile is noteworthy because it confers operational advantages in movement, deployment and launching,” said Institute for
Defence Studies and Analyses director K. Santhanam, who witnessed the launch.
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, while congratulating the defence scientists, asserted that the development of this Agni missile system was an ongoing programme and part of the several steps taken to bolster the country’s security.
With only the Prithvi-II-a relatively primitive missile with a range between 150 to 250 km depending on the payload-actually being inducted into the army so far, defence experts say India sorely needed such a missile to bridge the gap in range between the Prithvi and the Agni-II missiles. “Moreover, since the Agni-1 variant is road-mobile, it can also easily he taken to forward areas ahead of the last rail-head,” said one.
The rail-mobile Agni-II missile, with a 2,500-km range, has already entered limited-series production after successful tests and the army is raising a new missile group to handle this land-based nuclear deterrent. “Agni-III, which is in the development stage, will also be rail-mobile with a range of 3,500-4,000 km. Its first test may occur in late 2003,” said Mr Santhanam.
Analysts point to similar efforts by Pakistan, whose 750-km range ballistic missile Shaheen-I, basically a derivative of the Chinese M-9 missile, is already in the “production\operational phase”.
“Pakistan also tested its Ghauri-I
(1,300-km range) and Ghauri-II (2,000-km range) missiles in 1998-1999.
They are also developing their Shaheen-II and Ghauri-III missiles with
extended ranges,” said an expert. There are also reports that Pakistan
recently ordered 100 mobile launchers from China.