Agni Missile Series

Agni series

Agni missile series were originally developed under India's Integrated Guided Misile Development program. IGMDP consisted of various SRBM's, MRBM's Anti Tank and MRSAM etc. upon realization of the strategic importance of MRBM program, Agni missile program was decoupled from the IGMDP and given it's own independent allocation for further development.

Agni 1 - Medium Range Ballistic Missile

Range : 700-1250 Km

Status- Operational

Type: Medium Range Ballistic Missile

Agni I forms the backbone of Strategic Forces Command of India with its reach extending to most of the immediate theater of conflict. Agni 1 is road and rail mobile system and is capable of 2200lbs payload of nuclear or conventional warhead. For guidance the missile uses Ring Laser Gyro Inertial Navigation which can be augmented by terminal GPS guidance with radar scene correction. The re-entry vehicle flight dynamics are engineered to give it the ability to correct the trajectory of the launch to account for flight pattern errors and trajectory variances. Solid fueled thrust cartridges are also used for the on-board adaptive controller to trim velocity and spatial orientation.

Comparable Missile in South Asian Region: Ghauri 1 (Pak), Rodong 1 (DPRK), DF16 (PRC)

Agni-II - Medium Range Ballistic Missile

Range :2000 - 3000Km

Status- Operational

Type: Medium Range Ballistic Missile

Agni II is classified as a strategic ballistic missile by the strategic force command of India. It's range and weight places at the cusp of a medium and an Intermediate range ballistic missile. Agni II was developed by India to mitigate the risks posed by rampant proliferation of long range missile technology from North Korea to Pakistan. The onus was to build on proven technology of Agni 1 series. Agni II is a rapid deployment system for the SFC and can be deployed within 15 mins. Agni II still has an active upgrade program in place which saw the Agni II Prime with composite air frame, reduced weight and increased range and Mk2 Re-entry Vehicle optimized of 220KT Nuclear Warhead.

Comparable Missile system in South Asian Region: Ghauri II (Pak), Shaheen II (Pak), DF21 (PRC)

Agni III: Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile

Range: 3500-5000 Km

Status: Testing

Type: Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile

Agni III is an IRBM developed by DRDO and produced by Bharat Dynamics for the Indian Strategic Forces Command. It is currently the longest ranging missile in service with the Indian forces. With Circular error probability of 40 meters, it is one of the most sophisticated and accurate missile in IRBM class. For development of long range sophisticated missile systems, Advanced system Laboratories was established within the DRDO group. ASL was responsible for developing the new solid motor propulsion system for the Agni III. The two stage missile uses indigenous ring laser gyro based inertial navigation. Agni III also provides a higher payload capacity with Mk4 Re-entry vehicle capable of supporting varied munition both conventional and nuclear ranging from 1300lbs to 4000 lbs. 17M stubby height makes Agni III to be highly mobile and suited for naval application. The program spawned the K4 series submarine launched ballistic missile.

Comparable Missile system in South Asian Region: Agni IV (India)

Agni IV - Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile

Range :3000-4000Km

Status -Testing and Validation

Type: Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile

Agni IV is essentially an improved Agni II missile code named Agni II prime. Agni II originally with it's max 3000 Km range was at the cusp of Intermediate range classification, air frame modifications, with weight saving carbon fiber air frame and a composite two stage solid stage motor made Agni II prime close that gap between the Agni III and Agni II. The missile system also featured indigenous laser ring gyroscope and an on-board micro navigation system. The missile also features a highly sophisticated on-board flight control computer with high speed communication for highly accurate CEP and counter ABM maneuvering.

Comparable systems in South Asian region: None in the same class

Agni V - Medium Range Ballistic Missile

Range : 5000-5600 Km

Status -Testing and Validation

Type: Medium Range Ballistic Missile.

Agni V is the first Inter Continental Ballistic Missile developed by DRDO with the claimed range of ~5000 Km with a 17.5M height and max payload of 1500 Kgs. This missile's range has been a topic of controversy as chinese reports and some Indian sources indicate the range exceeding 7500 to 8000 km and intentionally downplayed by Indian officials to avoid international criticism. Agni V re-entry vehicle is configured to deliver 2-10 nuclear warheads. The missile was specifically designed to road mobile and rugged. Future iteration of Agni V will be canistered, the length of the missile also points towards a possible SLBM variation.

Comparable systems in South Asian region: DF4 (PRC)

Agni VI - Inter Continental Ballistic Missile

Range : 8000 to 12000 Km

Status – Under Development

Type: Inter Continental Ballistic Missile

Agni VI is the follow on to the Agni V ICBM and is under development with the DRDO ADL team. Agni VI will feature carbon fiber composite air frame along with Maneuverable re-entry vehicle capable of supporting upto 10 warheads. Terminal guidance will be similar as the Agni III follow on series with Inertial guidance augmented with radar scene correlation. It will also incorporate dynamic trajectory error correction using liquid thrust cartridges. The system will be a three stage system, and will be longer than the Agni V series. Like most of the modern Indian missile ballistic missiles, Agni VI will be cannistered and road mobile. Like the Agni V , this system will also have a Submarine launched ballistic missile variant dubbed the K6.

Comparable systems in the South Asian region: DF5 (PRC), DF31 (PRC), DF41 (PRC)