The configuration of the canister version of ICBM, Agni-V, which was successfully test-fired from Wheeler Island for a range of more than 5,000 km, has been “frozen” and there was no issue as far as validation and verification of India’s most potent strategic missile was concerned.
With the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducting three Agni-V missions in a row, including the latest canister-based flight test, only one more trial would be conducted jointly with the user before it gets inducted into armed forces by year-end.
According to a top missile technologist who is closely associated with Agni-V project, the canister-based trial with the user would be conducted in four to five months.
Mentioning the advantages of canister version in terms of operational flexibility to the user, he said one could just park it and launch. Besides providing reduced reaction time, it would also help in camouflaging, he added.
‘Satisfying mission’A DRDO scientist described Saturday’s success as a very satisfying mission. Calling it an achievement would be an understatement, he added. He said that data capturing while the missile was inside the container was a major challenge. “You are not supposed to lose data for even a millisecond,” he said and added that sufficient data was collected even though the signal level was low when it was in the canister.
In such long-range missions, the earth’s curvature would be an obstruction and therefore the telemetry and radars had to be spread out to monitor the entire operation from the start to end.
User trials scheduledMeanwhile, the user trials of Agni-3 and Agni-1 are scheduled to be conducted next month.
