Indian Missiles - News, Developments, Tests, and Discussions

[Contrarian]

[ur=http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/04/12/ap3604959.htmll]India Test Fires Nuclear-Capable Missile[/url]
Associated Press

By MUNEEZA NAQVI 04.12.07, 2:05 AM ET

India test fired a new missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads across much of Asia and the Middle East, a state government official said Thursday.

An earlier test firing of the Agni III missile had failed when it plunged into the Bay of Bengal short of its target in July last year. There was no immediate comment whether the current test was successful.

The missile was launched from Wheeler Island off the eastern state of Orissa, the state government official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

India's current crop of missiles has been largely intended to confront neighboring archrival Pakistan. The Agni III, in contrast, is India's longest-range missile, designed to reach 1,900 miles - putting China's major cities well into range, as well as targets deep in the Middle East.

It also is said to be capable of carrying up to a 300-kiloton nuclear warhead.

India's missile program, together with its nuclear program and drive for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, is part of its ongoing efforts to establish itself as a world power.

India's homegrown missile arsenal already includes the short-range Prithvi ballistic missile, the medium-range Akash, the anti-tank Nag and the supersonic Brahmos missile, developed jointly with Russia.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

 

[Contrarian]

Its China centric baby! Yeah !

 

[joey]

nehi asim ji it is succesful, read the ministry of defence press release carefully.

The pic your seeing is not this Agni 3 but the Agni 3 which was tested a year back , it is pic from 2006 and the pic is small for reasons...

 

[Contrarian]

Is it on the TV yet?

 

[joey]

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200704121201.htm

Lol. Talk about making things Pakistan centric when they don't have to be.

dont pay much attention to that part, it is not written by the three journalists which i have mentioned, MOD press release is there.

The Hindu gets good information on certain things but has communist angle to quite some things.

malay IIRC no agni 3 pic is there on TV all old pics.

 

[Adux]

Agni-3 , two stage, Nuclear Capable Single Warhead, 3500km

 

[Awesome]

hain... ICBM?

 

[Adux]

hain... ICBM?

Asim,

Sorry about that, Wrong Info there, I have corrected that, Can you please correct the Spelling of Agni in the Thread Topic, it is writted "Angi"

 

[Adux]

5500km @ 1500kg of payload, I guess that constitues as ICBM

 

[Contrarian]

New thing...range 4000km.
Xinhua has reported 3500 km range.

 

[Contrarian]

Agni-III test fired

AGENCIES[ THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2007 11:40:27 AM]


NEW DELHI: India carried out Thursday a second test of its nuclear-capable Agni-III ballistic missile with a range of 4,000 kilometres (2,480 miles). Agni, which means fire in Hindi, is one of five missiles being developed by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under an Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme launched in 1983.

DESCRIPTION: Agni-III is a surface-to-surface, two-stage missile. Both stages are powered by solid propellants.

RANGE: 4,000 kilometres (2,480 miles), according to defence ministry officials, and capable of striking targets deep inside China.

WARHEAD: Agni-III supports a wide range of warheads, conventional and nuclear, with a payload ranging from 600 to 1,800 kilograms (1,320 to 3,960 pounds) including decoys and other anti-ballistic counter-measures.

OTHER FEATURES: The missile can be deployed using rail or road mobile launch vehicles is said to have a high degree of accuracy with a medium to large nuclear payload, most likely a 200 to 300 kilotonne warhead.

THE AGNI SERIES: The short-range Agni-I was first test-fired in 1989. India last tested the intermediate range Agni-II on August 29, 2004.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Agni-III_test_fired/articleshow/1896472.cms

 

[Adux]

I have a feeling the range is under-stated to avoid political backlash.

 

[Contrarian]

The test-firing of the 3500-km range Agni-III has paved the way for the country to produce intercontinental range ballistic missiles
Media Release

The test-firing of the 3500-km range Agni-III has paved the way for the country to produce intercontinental range ballistic missiles and provided it a robust second strike nuclear capability, defence scientists said.

Unlike the Prithvi and earlier versions of the Agni surface-to-surface missiles, the launch of the Agni-III by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) by using all solid fuel propellant systems signalled that India has achieved complete indigenous capability and self-reliance in this field, they said.

This, DRDO sources said, will increase accuracy and marginalize failure rates in the launch of the surface-to-surface missiles.

Agni-III supports a wide range of warheads, both conventional and nuclear, with a total payload weight of 600 kg to 1,800 kg, and features decoys and other anti-ballistic counter-measures, they said.

The missile can be deployed using rail or road mobile launch vehicles, and has an inertial guidance system with improved optical or radar terminal phase correlation capability to guide it accurately to its target.

DRDO sources said this gives the Agni-III a high degree of accuracy with a medium to large nuclear payload, most likely a 200-300 kilotonne warhead.

The Agni-III will provide a robust second strike capability as, according to nuclear experts, this missile system can be disbursed far and wide in the mainland, far-flung islands or on blue water naval assets spread across the world's oceans.

The ability to reach all corners of a potential challenger requires a missile range of between 4,000 and 8,000 km and according to the experts, the country is reportedly developing a longer range missile with a heavier payload, but in a compact configuration with a thicker and shorter length.

They said its development is driven by the need for a more assured retaliation that can defeat emerging anti-ballistic missile (ABM) defences and counter-measures.

Such capability requires a compact missile that can also carry ABM counter-measures along with a warhead, in a configuration similar to MIRV, albeit with state-of-the-art decoys.

According to DRDO sources, the Agni-III features two solid fuelled stages with overall diameter of 1.8 metres. This diameter is compatible with the recently tested sub-surface launch system.

The missile's first stage booster is made of advanced carbon composite materials to provide high mass fraction. It weighs about 24 tonnes and has a length of seven meters. The initial stage propulsion (ISP) is comparable to similar large solid motors of ISRO.

The second stage is also made of advanced carbon composite materials weighing around eight tonnes with a length of 2.5 metres. It incorporates flex nozzles to provide necessary flight controls.
http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/10896.asp

 

[Contrarian]

I COMPLETELY agree. If this missile is looks an ICBM, it would invite the fury of all the western countries, estrange our bonhomie with US. I feel the range is very deliberately understated.

 

[joey]

The first pic is from previous years launch.

IIRC a Russian sources Claimed the range is over 5500 kms.

Same is my suspision.

The MOD report says Range of over 3000 kms(not the word over cautiously used) wit 1.8 tonne payload with decoys.1.8 tonnes is quite quite huge as we have huge Trititum reserve and have better technology to extract (than even US) , for boosted fission or TN's.

some stuff the dia is 2 metyres not 1.8 means it is not the Agni 3 tested previous year but a slightly different transtional version.

The range versus payload graph of Agni 3 is much different than Agni IIAT and Agni II.Its increase in dread weight translates to effective mass of payload increase by same quantum.

Also note, new Agni 3 also uses High Specific Impulse Fuel ( ISP S/L 237 sec , ISP vacuum 269 sec ) compared to Agni 2 ( S/L 232 and Vaccum 259 )

This can be possible Agni 3 figure,

Now that it has been publicly announced, let me not fudge it anymore and continue the treaditon of BR first.

1. The A-III diameter is indeed 2.0 meter. Has no fins.
2. It is ~16.3 meter tall
3. The first stage is 7.7 m long, interstage of 1.0 to 1.1m
4. Second stage 3m and payload adapter 0.75m
5. The payload section is 3.6m
6. My guess is that the real payload dia is 0.55m

Refer to this page for a very detailed analysis and the graph what I'm talking about.

http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MISSILES/Agni.html

Cause of previous failure,

All these were initial causes. The final root cause was control cable burn through due to F/S nozzle exhaust gases which were reentrant in the gap between the structure and the nozzle. The fix was a thermal shroud or bellows. The thing to remember is even without stage separation the vehicle flew over 1000km. one hell of a total impulse for the motors.