Agni (rocket)

Single-stage solid-fuel ballistic short-range missile. The first stage of the rocket Agni-2 . It can carry both nuclear and non-nuclear warheads weighing up to 1000 kg. Based on road-mobile launchers. Designed to fill the gap in the range between Prithvi missiles (range up to 150 km) and Agni-2 (range 2000-3500 km) and is intended mainly for hitting targets in Pakistan ^[4] .

Specifications

• Weight: 12 t
• Length: 15 m
• Distance: up to 700 km
• Drop weight: up to 1 ton
• Maximum speed: up to 2.5 km / s

Tests

• January 25, 2002 ^[5]
• 2003 ^[5]
• mid- 2004 ^[5]
• October 2007 ^[5]
• March 23, 2008

A two-stage solid - fuel medium -range ballistic missile . The first step is Agni-1 . The development of this missile was launched in March 1998 by a decision of the Government of India based on the Agni and Prithvi rockets.

The deployment time of the complex is about 15 minutes, compared with almost 6 hours of Agni rocket preparation. Another important characteristic of the complex was its basing on a mobile railway or automobile platform, which made it possible to move the complex and carry out firing from anywhere in the country. A much more accurate navigation and guidance system was applied, which increased the accuracy by at least three times compared to Agni.

In April 2002, adopted by the Indian army. In the affected area of ​​the Agni-2 rocket, most of the western, central and southern parts of China lie. The cost of the rocket is estimated from 4.5 to 8 million dollars per copy ^[6] .

Specifications

• Weight: 17 t
• Length: 21 m
• Distance: 2000 km
• Drop weight: up to 1 ton

Tests

• April 11, 1999 - successful. Start from launch pad No. 4 on Wheeler Island, the new spaceport on the coast of Orissa
• January 17, 2001 - successfully. Missile launch in final operational configuration
• May 17, 2010 - successful. ^[7] Starting at 9:18 local time from launch pad No. 4 on Wheeler Island, the flight lasted 660 seconds. ^[eight]
• August 29, 2011 - not successful. Start canceled due to technical issues. ^[9]

A two - stage medium-range rocket is a completely new rocket - two new solid-fuel engines were developed in DRDO . Unlike Agni-1 and Agni-2, Agni-3 was designed and optimized for a 200-kiloton thermonuclear warhead, although India claims that this rocket will only be used to carry conventional warheads. However, the cost of the system in this case will be unjustifiably high for carrying conventional weapons ^[10] . Also, a submarine version is being developed - “Agni-3 SL”.

The launch of the 16.7-meter Agni-3, weighing about 48 tons (in contrast to the much lighter Agni-1 (12 tons) and Agni-2 (17 tons)), is carried out from a mobile railway launcher . It is shorter than Agni-2, but almost twice its diameter. The mass of the warhead can be from 600 to 1800 kg, equipped with both conventional and nuclear warheads with a nuclear charge capacity of 200-300 kt ^[11] . Within the range of the Agni-3 rocket are the major Chinese cities - Beijing and Shanghai .

It was originally planned that the first test of Agni-3 will be carried out by the end of 2005. Speaking in June 2005, the head of DRDO said that “the tests of Agni-3 are on schedule and will be completed before the end of this year.” However, the tests were postponed. The first missile test was performed on July 9, 2006 at the Wheeler Island test site off the coast of Orissa. However, it was unsuccessful - at the 65th second the rocket deviated from the course and was blown up from the ground. The next day, the Indian Space Research Organization ( ISRO ) launched the GSLV launch vehicle with the Insat 4C satellite. The launch of the space rocket was also unsuccessful and the rocket with a satellite was undermined in the 45th second of the flight. The double failure of the Agni-3 rocket and the Indian satellite satellite launch vehicle GSLV led to delays in a number of both military and scientific research programs.

However, the following year, the tests were continued and the second test launch was successful. A year later, the third test and the second successful launch followed, which allowed the developers of the rocket to talk about the imminent start of limited mass production of the Agni-3 missiles, and the possibility of its adoption into service and operational deployment by 2010-2011. After the third successful test, the Director of the Organization for Defense Research and Development (DRDO), Vijay Kumar Saraswat, stated that after three successful tests, the missile was ready for adoption. ^[12]

Specifications

• Diameter: 1.8 m
• Length: 16.7 m
• Mass of the first stage: 32 tons
• First step length: 7.7 m
• Second stage weight: 10 tons
• Second Stage Length: 3.3 m
• Distance: 3500 km with a drop weight of 1000 kg. ^[13]
• Drop weight: up to 1.8 tons

Tests

• July 9, 2006 - unsuccessfully
• April 12, 2007 - successful. The rocket launched on April 12, 2007 at 10:52 local time from a fixed platform from the time range of Wheeler Island.
• May 7, 2008 - successful. The rocket launched at 9:56 hours and reached the estimated range of 3000 km, speed and accuracy, hitting the target 800 seconds after launch. Also a feature of the launch was the flight of the rocket to the target through the equator . ^{[14] [15]}
• February 7, 2010 - successful.
• September 21, 2012 - successful. The rocket launched at 1:15 pm from the ITR test site, Wheeler Island, launch pad No. 4 (LC-4). Start-up was carried out by SFC personnel ^[16]

Three-stage solid fuel rocket with a composite engine casing of the third stage. Also, two stages of this rocket will be made of composite material. The range is more than 5 thousand km. According to its characteristics will be related to intercontinental ballistic missiles . February 10, 2010, it was stated that the readiness of the Agni-5 is quite high and the DRDO (DRDO) is approaching the production of the first flight prototype. On May 21, 2010, Dr. V. Selvamurthy ( English Selvamurthy ), the chief designer of the DRDO center, stated that the first test of the Agni-5 rocket will take place in March-April 2011. He also stated that Agni-5 is being developed by adding a third stage to two stages of the Agni-3 rocket, which will not only increase the range over 5,000 km, but also place several warheads on the rocket, including those adapted to overcome the enemy's missile defense systems ^{[17 ]} . The development is estimated at 2.5 billion rupees ($ 480 million) ^[18] .

Tests

• April 19, 2012 - successful. The rocket launched from the launch pad in the state of Orissa on the west coast of India at 08:05 local time (06:35 Moscow time). Having risen to an altitude of more than 600 km, all three stages worked fine and the rocket hit the intended target somewhere near Indonesia . “After these tests, India has become the largest rocket power,” said VDJI head of the DRDO, Vijay Kumar Saraswat to Times Now The success of the tests was confirmed by the project manager Avinash Chandra: "We have exactly obtained the desired results." Agni-V tests were repeatedly tolerated. It was originally supposed to launch a new rocket in 2010. Then the tests were moved to 2011. At the moment ( April 19, 2012 ) it is known that only China, Russia, France, the USA and Great Britain have missiles with a range of 5,000 km. It is assumed that Israel also has such missiles, but this state does not disclose data on its weapons ^{[3] [18] [19]}
• September 15, 2013 - successfully. The rocket launched from the launch pad in the state of Orissa on the west coast of India at 8.43 local time (07:13 Moscow time). ^[20]
• February 2, 2015 - successful. A ground-to-ground missile was launched from a mobile transport and launch container ^[21] .

•   India
  • 80-100 units of Agni-1, as of 2010 . ^[22]
  • 20-25 units of Agni-2, as of 2010. ^[22]

• Prithvi (rocket)

• India conducted a successful test of a ballistic missile // rnd.cnews.ru
• Sanjay Badri Maharaj and Arun Vishwakarma Evaluating India's Land Based Missile Deterrent
• Arun Vishwakarma AGNI - strategic ballistic missile
• Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) // globalsecurity.org