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Shourya and Agni-1 have identical ranges and similar warhead capabilities, so why do we have two missiles with similar characteristics in our deterrent?
In short, Shourya is not part of our deterrent, yet. Besides, there is little similarity between the two missiles, despite the way it looks. Even their ranges may will be different.
Shourya
Shourya is a two stage missile with characteristics of both ballistic and cruise missiles. Unlike conventional cruise missiles which fly at extremely low altitudes and subsonic speeds using turbo fan engines, Shourya cruises at extremely high altitudes at hypersonic speeds using rocket power.
After being launched like a ballistic missile, Shaurya doesn't follow a pure ballistic trajectory. It stays within the atmosphere and flies to its targets at hypersonic speeds, performing maneuvers to confuse enemy defenses. Its time to target is considerably less than that of a ballistic missile, giving the enemy lesser reaction time.
Shourya is comparable to Russia's Iskander missile that can cruise at hypersonic speed of Mach 6 - 7 at a height of 50 km and maneuver to evade ballistic missile defenses.
The Iskander-M weighs 4,615 kg and carries a warhead of 710 800 kg to a range of 480 km, achieving a CEP of 5 7 m.
At 6.5 ton, Shourya is considerably heavier than the Iskander-M but has a much longer range.
The Shourya is the land based version of the Saagrika missile developed under the K-15 project for arming India's SSBNs. The missile has a diameter of 0.74 and a length of 10m; it is custom built to fit, three each, in the missile tube of the Arihant class SSBNs.
Shourya is a canisterized. It is road mobile and can be launched from silos.
Shourya has not yet been made a part of India's strategic arsenal.
Agni-I
Agni-I (A1) is a single stage, solid fueled ballistic missile that India decided to develop shortly after the Kargil war in 1999 to plug the gap between the 250km rang Prithvi-II and 2,500km Agni-II.
Basically, the Agni-I is the Agni-II without the second stage.
The missile was conceived and developed from the ground up as a road mobile strategic deterrent against Pakistan. The missile is incapable of being stored and launched from a canister making it more detectable and vulnerable.
The A1, 15m long and 1m in diameter, will not fit into a SSBN missile tube.
Since A1 was first announced with a range of 700 km it has probably been improved. New variants of the Agni-I are likely to be using the 1.2 m diameter first stage developed for use on the improved version of Agni-II and the new Agni-IV missiles.
The bigger first stage probably give the Agni-I a range that is far greater than 700 km. In one of the recent tests, DRDO claimed that the A1 reached an altitude of 900 km!
The A1 is part of India's strategic arsenel.
Agni-1, Shourya Comparison Summary
Agni-I Shourya / Saagrika
Length (m) 15 10
Diameter (m) 1.2 0.74
Range (km) 700 700
Propulsion Single stage, Solid fuelled Two stage, Solid fuelled
Trajectory Ballistic Very High Altitude Cruise with maneuvering
Time to Target More Less
Canisterized No Yes
Operational Yes No
Submarine Launch No Yes
Shourya and Agni-I: What's the Difference?
In short, Shourya is not part of our deterrent, yet. Besides, there is little similarity between the two missiles, despite the way it looks. Even their ranges may will be different.
Shourya
Shourya is a two stage missile with characteristics of both ballistic and cruise missiles. Unlike conventional cruise missiles which fly at extremely low altitudes and subsonic speeds using turbo fan engines, Shourya cruises at extremely high altitudes at hypersonic speeds using rocket power.
After being launched like a ballistic missile, Shaurya doesn't follow a pure ballistic trajectory. It stays within the atmosphere and flies to its targets at hypersonic speeds, performing maneuvers to confuse enemy defenses. Its time to target is considerably less than that of a ballistic missile, giving the enemy lesser reaction time.
Shourya is comparable to Russia's Iskander missile that can cruise at hypersonic speed of Mach 6 - 7 at a height of 50 km and maneuver to evade ballistic missile defenses.
The Iskander-M weighs 4,615 kg and carries a warhead of 710 800 kg to a range of 480 km, achieving a CEP of 5 7 m.
At 6.5 ton, Shourya is considerably heavier than the Iskander-M but has a much longer range.
The Shourya is the land based version of the Saagrika missile developed under the K-15 project for arming India's SSBNs. The missile has a diameter of 0.74 and a length of 10m; it is custom built to fit, three each, in the missile tube of the Arihant class SSBNs.
Shourya is a canisterized. It is road mobile and can be launched from silos.
Shourya has not yet been made a part of India's strategic arsenal.
Agni-I
Agni-I (A1) is a single stage, solid fueled ballistic missile that India decided to develop shortly after the Kargil war in 1999 to plug the gap between the 250km rang Prithvi-II and 2,500km Agni-II.
Basically, the Agni-I is the Agni-II without the second stage.
The missile was conceived and developed from the ground up as a road mobile strategic deterrent against Pakistan. The missile is incapable of being stored and launched from a canister making it more detectable and vulnerable.
The A1, 15m long and 1m in diameter, will not fit into a SSBN missile tube.
Since A1 was first announced with a range of 700 km it has probably been improved. New variants of the Agni-I are likely to be using the 1.2 m diameter first stage developed for use on the improved version of Agni-II and the new Agni-IV missiles.
The bigger first stage probably give the Agni-I a range that is far greater than 700 km. In one of the recent tests, DRDO claimed that the A1 reached an altitude of 900 km!
The A1 is part of India's strategic arsenel.
Agni-1, Shourya Comparison Summary
Agni-I Shourya / Saagrika
Length (m) 15 10
Diameter (m) 1.2 0.74
Range (km) 700 700
Propulsion Single stage, Solid fuelled Two stage, Solid fuelled
Trajectory Ballistic Very High Altitude Cruise with maneuvering
Time to Target More Less
Canisterized No Yes
Operational Yes No
Submarine Launch No Yes
Shourya and Agni-I: What's the Difference?