Nuclear-Tipped Agni-IV, India’s 4,000 Kilometres Range Ballistic Missile, Test-Fired Successfully

India on Monday successfully test fired the nuclear-capable Agni-IV ballistic missile from the Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast. The missile was fired at about 11.50 am by the tri-Services’ Strategic Forces Command (SFC), which is entrusted with India’s nuclear weapons. This is the sixth test of the missile and the second user associated launch.

The two-stage solid-propelled, surface-to-surface ballistic missile is designed to carry a 1-tonne payload to a distance of 4,000 km. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has designed and developed the missile. Efforts are being made to fine-tuning the Agni missiles to defeat anti-ballistic missile systems. The test comes within a week of the successful test firing of Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile.

The missile is 20 meters long and has a launch weight of around 17 tonnes. It is equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, which include indigenously developed ring laser gyro and composite rocket motor. The missile, which has the capability to carry strategic warheads, has provided a formidable deterrence and strike power.

Agni-IV had been launched five times earlier in 2011, 2012, twice in 2014 and once in 2015. While one of these tests partially failed, others were successful.