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India's Latest Nuclear Missile Ready For Mass Production
NEW DELHI, March 7 (News Agencies) - India on Wednesday said its longer-range Agni-II ballistic missile was ready for mass-production following its last test-flight in January.
Defense Minister George Fernandes said New Delhi had decided to induct the Agni-II as the missile had "achieved operationalisation stage" with its second successful launch two months ago.
"The government has decided to induct the missile system based on security needs," Fernandes told parliament without specifying a time frame for the mass-production or induction of Agni-II into the armed forces.
The defense minister also highlighted a deal to manufacture Russia's frontline Sukhoi-30 combat jets under license in India's state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) in Bangalore city.
"Under a recent agreement with Russia, license had been transferred to HAL to manufacture 140 SU-30MK-1 aircraft along with 920 additional engines and 140 sets of airborne equipment," the minister said.
India in the mid-1990s had contracted Russia for the supply of around 40 such planes at the cost of $4 billion but delay in supplies brought the deal under controversy.
India on January 17th successfully tested the Agni-II missile, which can be fired from a mobile platform and is capable of carrying a one-ton nuclear warhead more than 2,500 kilometers (1,560 miles) - deep into Pakistan and China.
The missile was first tested in April 1999. Islamabad on that occasion responded within days by test firing its Ghauri-II missile, with a range of 1,500 kilometers (930 miles).
The Agni-II is the second in the series of medium-range ballistic missiles developed as a vehicle to transport India's nuclear weapons arsenal.
Agni-I, first flight-tested in 1993, has a range of 1,500 kilometers with a payload capacity similar to the longer-range missile, which has been developed by India's Defense Research and Development Organization.
Defense Minister Fernandes said the decision to develop a storehouse of military missiles was a result of "careful considerations" of his Hindu nationalist-led coalition government.
"The government's policy and strategy on the development and deployment of missiles is consistent," Fernandes said.
The Agni-II can be fired from a static launch pad or used from mobile launchers.
Military experts say that although India is still trying to develop a nuclear-capable maritime missile, the Agni-II was the final platform in the government's doctrine of "minimum credible nuclear deterrent."
The doctrine also pledges to use nuclear arms only if India is attacked with such weapons and says that its nuclear arsenal will never be deployed against non-nuclear states.
The Agni-II will offer India a second-strike capability in the event of a nuclear conflict, experts say.
India successfully tested for a third time in little over a week its multi-target surface-to-air missile "Akash", the Press Trust of India reported Wednesday.
The news agency quoted Indian defense officials as saying that the missile weighing 650 kilograms (1,430 pounds) was fired from a mobile launcher on Tuesday from a test range in the eastern state of Orissa.
Akash has a range of 25 kilometers (15.5 miles), can deliver 55 kilograms (121 pounds) of explosives and has the capacity to strike several targets simultaneously.
The first test launch of the missile was conducted eight days ago on February 27th and then followed up on Friday.
Akash is one of the missiles being developed by the Indian defense establishment under its indigenous Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP), launched in 1983.
India has already inducted the short-range surface-to-surface Prithvi missile with a range of 150 kilometers to 250 kilometers (93 to 155 miles) into service.
The Prithvi is capable of carrying a one-ton nuclear or conventional warhead.
India conducted a series of underground nuclear tests in May 1998, prompting a tit-for-tat response from archrival Pakistan the same month.
The West, specially the United States, has warned that the missile development programs of both India and Pakistan are fraught with danger.
India fought three wars with Pakistan since its independence in 1947, as well as a brief but bloody skirmish with China in 1962.
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