KashifAsrar
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China leagues ahead in nuclear, missile arsenal
By Rajat Pandit/TNN
New Delhi: Agni-III ââ¬â a totally different system from Agni-I (700 to 800-km) and Agni-II (2,000-km-plus) ââ¬â was to be tested for the first time in 2003. But it ran into technical problems, including snags in its guidance and propulsion systems. By the time DRDO scientists thought they had rectified all the technical glitches last year, the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal was on the horizon, with proliferation hawks looking for ways to scuttle it.
But with the nuclear deal crossing the first hurdle in the US Congress and Senate committees, Indiaââ¬â¢s political leadership finally mustered up the requisite will to go ahead with the test on Sunday.
But it proved to be unsuccessful. Even though the countryââ¬â¢s integrated guided missile development programme was launched in 1983, it has been repeatedly hit by time-overruns, cost escalations and technical snags, as reported earlier.
Agni-IIIââ¬â¢s failure has even left a big question mark on Indiaââ¬â¢s eventual plan to develop an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile), with a strike range in excess of 5,000 km.
DRDO will have to rectify the technical snags in Agni-III as soon as possible since it remains crucial for Indiaââ¬â¢s deterrence plans against China. The missile, when it becomes operational, will be able to hit high-value targets deep inside China, including Beijing and Shanghai.
The missiles now being inducted into the armed forces, like advanced variants of Prithvi (150 to 300 km) and Agni-I (700 to 800 km), are meant primarily for Pakistan. The Agni-II (2,000-km-plus) missile, which is still to be fully inducted, can target only western China.
China, in sharp contrast, is leagues ahead in its nuclear and missile arsenal, capable as it is of hitting any city in India, with even the US jittery about its rapidly-expanding strategic forces. In addition to its huge inventory of IRBMs and ICBMs, China is now operationalising its new road-mobile DF-31 and DF-31A ICBMs.
By Rajat Pandit/TNN
New Delhi: Agni-III ââ¬â a totally different system from Agni-I (700 to 800-km) and Agni-II (2,000-km-plus) ââ¬â was to be tested for the first time in 2003. But it ran into technical problems, including snags in its guidance and propulsion systems. By the time DRDO scientists thought they had rectified all the technical glitches last year, the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal was on the horizon, with proliferation hawks looking for ways to scuttle it.
But with the nuclear deal crossing the first hurdle in the US Congress and Senate committees, Indiaââ¬â¢s political leadership finally mustered up the requisite will to go ahead with the test on Sunday.
But it proved to be unsuccessful. Even though the countryââ¬â¢s integrated guided missile development programme was launched in 1983, it has been repeatedly hit by time-overruns, cost escalations and technical snags, as reported earlier.
Agni-IIIââ¬â¢s failure has even left a big question mark on Indiaââ¬â¢s eventual plan to develop an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile), with a strike range in excess of 5,000 km.
DRDO will have to rectify the technical snags in Agni-III as soon as possible since it remains crucial for Indiaââ¬â¢s deterrence plans against China. The missile, when it becomes operational, will be able to hit high-value targets deep inside China, including Beijing and Shanghai.
The missiles now being inducted into the armed forces, like advanced variants of Prithvi (150 to 300 km) and Agni-I (700 to 800 km), are meant primarily for Pakistan. The Agni-II (2,000-km-plus) missile, which is still to be fully inducted, can target only western China.
China, in sharp contrast, is leagues ahead in its nuclear and missile arsenal, capable as it is of hitting any city in India, with even the US jittery about its rapidly-expanding strategic forces. In addition to its huge inventory of IRBMs and ICBMs, China is now operationalising its new road-mobile DF-31 and DF-31A ICBMs.
