Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists over the first flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile, capable of deploying multiple warheads.
'Proud of our DRDO scientists for Mission Divyastra, the first flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology,' Modi said on 'X'.
Sources said that with the test of Mission Divyastra, India has joined the select group of nations that have MIRV capability.
This will ensure that a single missile can deploy multiple warheads at different locations, they said.
The project director is a woman and it has a significant contribution from women, the sources said.
The weapon system is equipped with indigenous avionics systems and high-accuracy sensor packages which ensured that the re-entry vehicles reached the target points within the desired accuracy.
The capability is an enunciator of India's growing technological prowess.
The Agni-5, with a range of 5000 km, is developed considering the long-term security needs of the country. The missile can bring almost the entire Asia including the northernmost part of China as well as some regions in Europe under its striking range.
The Agni 1 to 4 missiles have ranges from 700 km to 3,500 km and have already been deployed.
India has been developing capabilities to intercept hostile ballistic missiles both inside and outside the earth's atmospheric limits.