India conducts successful launch of Agni-1 missile

NEW DELHI: India conducted a “successful launch” of the medium-range Agni-1 missile from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast on Thursday, in yet another test of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile amid the continuing military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh.
The “training launch” of the Agni-1, which has a strike range of 700km, was conducted by the tri-service Strategic Forces Command (SFC).
“The missile is a proven system already inducted into the SFC, and is capable of striking targets with a very high degree of precision. The user launch successfully validated all operational and technical parameters of the missile,” a defence ministry official said.
The SFC, which was set up to handle the country’s nuclear arsenal in 2003, currently has the Prithvi-II (350km range), Agni-1 (700-km), Agni-2 (2,000-km), Agni-3 (3,000-km) and Agni-4 (4,000-km) ballistic missiles.
The country’s most formidable nuclear-capable missile, the over 5,000-km Agni-5, which brings even the northernmost part of China within its strike envelope, is in the stage of being inducted into the SFC. The Agni-5 was test-fired by the SFC in October 2021 and December 2022.
A new-generation missile with a strike range of 1,000 to 2,000-km called ‘Agni-Prime’ was also tested for the first time in June 2021. Developed with new propulsion systems and composite rocket motor casings as well as advanced navigation and guidance systems, the canister-launch Agni-Prime will gradually replace the Agni-I missiles in the SFC’s arsenal.