India joins another elite club with prowess in missile tech
It can now deliver multiple warheads to separate targets
India has successfully conducted its first test flight of a domestically developed missile that can carry multiple warheads, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said yesterday.
The missile is equipped with multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles, Modi said in a post on X.
Deployment of Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology can enhance first-strike proficiency for strategic forces and also provide greater target damage for a given thermonuclear weapon payload.
Growing might
With the test of Mission Divyastra, India has joined the select group of nations that have MIRV capability.
India is now a part of the elite club. America, Britain, France, China and Russia are among the countries that already use MIRV missiles, while Pakistan tested it in 2017, according to Washington-based non-profit advocacy group, the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
India has been developing its medium- and long-range missile systems since the 1990s.
In 2021, India successfully tested Agni-5, a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 5,000 kilometres (3,125 miles). Agni missiles are long-range surface-to-surface ballistic missiles.
The inclusion MIRV technology in the Agni-5 missile enhances its effectiveness in delivering multiple warheads to different targets with precision, thereby augmenting India’s deterrence capabilities and strengthening national security. An MIRV payload involves a single missile carrying four to six nuclear warheads, each programmed to hit a separate target. This system is equipped with indigenous Avionics systems and high-accuracy sensor packages, which ensure that the re-entry vehicles reach the target points with the desired accuracy. The capability is an enunciator of India’s growing technological prowess, sources added.
The US, the UK, France, China and Russia are among the countries that already use MIRV missiles, which enhance first-strike proficiency and complicates the calculus of mutual assured destruction.
5,000km range of India’s Agni-5 surface-to-surface intercontinental ballistic missile
What are MIRV benefits?
The strategic implications of MIRV technology are several, as it enhances first-strike proficiency and complicates the calculus of mutual assured destruction. With the ability to deploy multiple warheads from a single missile, nations can achieve a broader spread of targets, making missile defence systems less effective and more costly to maintain.