Agni-5 Flight Test: PM Hails DRDO For 'Mission Divyastra', Missile That 'Can Bring Entire Asia Under Its Striking Range'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hailed Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists for 'Mission Divyastra', the first flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology.

Taking to microblogging platform X, PM Modi wrote: "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."

PM Modi's statement came amid massive buzz that he will be making an "important announcement" in an "address to the nation" at 5:30 pm on Monday.

Agni-5 is a Surface to Surface Ballistic Missile which uses a three-stage solid fuelled engine, is capable of striking targets at ranges up to 5,000 kilometres with a very high degree of accuracy.

This is to note that India follows a policy to have ‘credible minimum deterrence’ that underpins the commitment to ‘No First Use’.

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, a news agency PTI report citing sources 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 5,000 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 PTI report mentioned.

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.