Non-Subscriber Extract
India to test-fire Agni 3 by year-end
- Article Tools
| 31 May 2005 |
By Rahul Bedi JDW Correspondent
New Delhi
India will test-fire its twice-aborted nuclear-capable Agni 3 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) by the end of the year, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) head Dr M Natarajan said in New Delhi on 17 May.
"Development of Agni 3 is on schedule. It will fly by the end of the year," Natarajan said of the solid-fuelled IRBM, the launch of which was delayed by the DRDO due to "snags" in its propulsion system in 2003 and once again last year.
DRDO scientists said a proven Agni 3 would not only enhance the credibility of India's strategic deterrence by being able to strike targets deep inside neighbouring China, but also give it the capability to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles. India has claimed that fear of a nuclear-armed China had prompted its 1998 multiple nuclear tests and the development of its arsenal of long-range missiles.
Speaking at a function marking DRDO Technology Day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stressed the importance of a self-reliant military complex to preserve the country's "strategic autonomy", but assured the international community that India would not be a source of nuclear proliferation.
184 of 446 words