Agni (missile)
The Agni missile (Sanskrit: अग्नि; lit. Fire) is a family of medium to intercontinental range ballistic missiles developed by India, named after one of the five elements of nature. Agni missiles are long-range, nuclear weapons capable, surface-to-surface ballistic missiles. The first missile of the series, Agni-I was developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (lGMDP) and tested in 1989. After its success, the Agni missile programme was separated from the GMDP upon realizing its strategic importance. It was designated as a special programme in India's defence budget and provided adequate funds for subsequent development. As of November 2019, the missiles in the Agni series are being inducted into service. The family comprises the following:
| Name | Type | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Agni-I | MRBM | 700–1,200 km (Operational) |
| Agni-P | MRBM | 1,000-2,000 km (In trail) |
| Agni-II | MRBM | 2,000–3,500 km (Operational) |
| Agni-III | IRBM | 3,000–5,000 km (Operational) |
| Agni-IV | IRBM | 3,500–4,000 km(Operational) |
| Agni-V | ICBM | 7,000–8,000 km (Operational) |
| Agni-VI | ICBM | 11,000–12,000 km (Under development) |
| Agni-P, I, II, III, IV, V, VI | |
|---|---|
Agni-V ICBM | |
| Type | Medium-range ballistic missile (Agni-I, Agni-II, Agni Prime) Intermediate-range ballistic missile (Agni-III, Agni-IV) Intercontinental ballistic missile (Agni-V, Agni VI) |
| Place of origin | India |
| Service history | |
| In service | Active |
| Used by | India |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Defence Research and Development Organisation |
| Manufacturer | Bharat Dynamics Limited |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 12,000 kg (Agni-I) 16,000 kg (Agni-II) 48,000 kg (Agni III) 17,000 kg (Agni-IV) 49,000 kg (Agni-V) 55,000 kg (Agni VI) 11,000 kg (Agni P) |
| Length | 15 m (Agni-I) 21 m (Agni-II) 17 m (Agni-III) 20 m (Agni-IV) 17.5 m (Agni-V) 10.5 m(Agni-P) |
| Diameter | 1.0 m (Agni-I, Agni-II) 2.0 m (Agni-III, Agni-IV, Agni V) 1.1 m (Agni VI) 1.15 m (Agni P) |
| Warhead | Conventional high explosive-unitary, penetration, cluster munitions, incendiary weapon, thermobaric, strategic nuclear weapon |
| Engine | Composite rocket motor |
| Propellant | Solid fuel |
Operational range | 700–1,200 km (Agni-I) 1,000–2,000 km (Agni Prime) 2,000–3,500 km (Agni-II) 3,000–5,000 km (Agni-III) 3,500–4,000 km (Agni-IV) 7,000–8,000 km (Agni-V) 11,000–12,000 km (Agni VI) |
| Flight altitude | 300 km (Agni-I) 230 km (Agni-II), 350 km (Agni-III) |
| Maximum speed | 24 Mach (Agni-V) |
Guidance system | Mid-course: Ring laser gyro inertial navigation system with GPS/NavIC satellite guidance Terminal: Imaging infrared homing, radar scene correlation, active radar homing |
Launch platform | Road/Rail mobile |