The Hindu : National : Step-up of Agni-II range planned

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 13, 2005

National

National

Step-up of Agni-II range planned

By Sandeep Dikshit

BANGALORE, FEB. 12. Faced with continuing problems in test-firing the nuclear-capable Agni-III missile, scientists in the Defence Research & Development Organisation are planning a gradual step-up in the range of Agni-II missile, said an engineer associated with the project.

Agni-II, which has been successfully test-fired since 1999, can hit targets 2,500 km away but strategic experts do not think it would be able to threaten certain major cities in the neighbourhood. However, the project to make Agni-III with a range of 3,500 km has been encountering technical difficulties for the past two years. This necessitated a rethink in DRDO circles and it has been decided to first increase the range of Agni-II by 300 km in the first phase. Subsequent range enhancements will depend on the success of the test of the special Agni-II missile.

The DRDO, along with its private sector partners, has already begun work on reconfiguring the various components of the 2,500-km range Agni-II including the propulsion and various software systems, said the engineer. ``Work is underway,'' he said but declined to state how much of it remained to be completed.

Other circles would not comment on the development particularly in view of the Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee's reluctance to speak on the subject while inaugurating the Bangalore air show earlier this week. ``Don't expect me to speak on it,'' he said when asked about the likely date on which Agni-III missile would be launched. In the past, Union Cabinet Ministers and DRDO top brass have been proved wrong about the likely launch date of the missile which is planned to be developed into a ``true'' intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 5,000 km, thus giving considerable flexibility in locating it deep inside India.

Defence circles claim to have begun the process of equipping an Army regiment with the Agni-I version with a range of 700 to 800 km after it met all technical parameters in a test on July 4 last year. Sources said the Army missile groups 334 and 335 would take care of the missile while the missile groups 222 and 333 have already been equipped with the much shorter-range Prithvi surface-to-surface missile. There is no official confirmation about these missile groups or the fact that Agni missiles will vest with the Army or some other service or department.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National