India tests Agni-5 missile capable of multiple strikes

India on Monday successfully carried out the first flight-test of the Agni-5 missile with multiple warheads, each capable of targeting objects hundreds of kilometers apart, and a range of 5.000 kilometres.

The flight test, named Mission Divyastra, was carried out from the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast, met all the designated parameters. 

Agni-5 uses the Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology to simultaneously attack different targets, irrespective of their location.

The missile, designed by the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), is capable of carrying warheads weighing up to 2 tonnes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed DRDO scientists for the success of `Mission Divyastra.’

The Agni-5 missile, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with a range of 5,500 to 5,800 kilometres, can reach the northern-most parts of China and even some regions in Europe.

India has now joined the select group of nations capable of using Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle technology..

Notably, Agni-5 uses indigenous avionics and high-precision sensor packages, ensuring precision strikes by the re-entry vehicles.

The Agni-5 flight test, off the Odisha coast, was monitored by various telemetry and radar stations in India. Notably, the flight test, was carried out with a Chinese ship in attendance some 480 km off the Visakhapatnam cost

The Chinese research vessel `Xian Yang Hong 01’ arrived a day after India issued an alert over the upcoming missile test. The notice to airmen (NOTAM) had restricted flights over a 3,500 km area in the Bay of Bengal.