India successfully tested the Agni-5 MIRV missile from Odisha, boosting its ability to strike multiple targets with a single nuclear-capable weapon.
India conducted a successful flight trial of an advanced Agni missile with multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle (MIRV) technology, the defence ministry said on Saturday. This capability allows the weapon system to deliver multiple nuclear warheads on enemy targets spread across hundreds of kilometres.
The locally developed Agni-5 missile with MIRV technology was tested on Friday from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha, a step towards further strengthening the country’s strategic deterrence capability. “The missile was flight-tested with multiple payloads, …(directed at) different targets spatially distributed over a large geographical area in the Indian Ocean Region,” the defence ministry said, adding that flight data confirmed all mission objectives were met.
Telemetry and tracking were carried out by multiple ground- and ship-based stations. These systems tracked the missile trajectory from lift-off to impact. “With this successful trial, India once again demonstrated the capability to target multiple strategic targets using a single missile system,” it added.
There was no official word on how many warheads the MIRV version of Agni-5 can carry, though military scientists tracking the project pegged the number at four or five. This will add “an incredible capability to the country’s defence preparedness against growing threat perceptions,” defence minister Rajnath Singh said.
India conducted the maiden flight test of the Agni-5 missile with MIRV technology in March 2024. Prime Minister Narendra Modi then revealed the codename for the historic test, Mission Divyastra (divine weapon). It propelled India into an exclusive league of countries that have the capability to deploy MIRV missile systems, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China.
The Agni-5 missile, which uses a three-stage solid-fuelled engine, has a range of more than 5,000 km. MIRVs can cause more destruction than traditional missiles that carry a single warhead. Other variants of the Agni missiles developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) include the Agni-1 (700-km range), the Agni-2 (2,000-km range), the Agni-3 (3,000-km range), and the Agni-4 (4,000-km range).
The Agni-5 MIRV system is equipped with indigenous avionics and high-accuracy sensor packages. A woman scientist from the DRDO steered the 2024 test, which also involved other women scientists.
India’s nuclear doctrine, promulgated in 2003, commits to a ‘no first use’ posture, with weapons to be used only in retaliation against a nuclear attack on Indian territory or Indian forces. In a stance that reflects the capabilities India has built over the years, the doctrine states that nuclear retaliation to a first strike will be massive and designed to inflict unimaginable damage.
Retaliatory attacks can only be authorised by the civilian political leadership through the Nuclear Command Authority, consisting of a political council and an executive council. The Prime Minister chairs the political council, while the national security adviser heads the executive council.
The country can carry out nuclear strikes with fighter planes, land-launched missiles and from the sea. In April, the navy commissioned its third nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, INS Aridaman, into service during a ceremony kept under wraps in Visakhapatnam, as it was built under a highly classified programme to bolster the sea leg of the country’s nuclear triad — the ability to launch strategic weapons from land, air and sea. The United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France and China are the only other countries that can deliver nuclear warheads from a submarine.
