REPORT-3
Rajeev Sharma
NEW DELHI: Though India has demonstrated its technological, scientific and military prowess by successfully launching its 5000-km-range, Rs 125 crore Agni-V missile on Thursday, the Long Range Ballistic Missile (LRBM) won’t be formally inducted into the Indian armed forces before 2016.
Strategic sources said though the successful launch of Agni-V has in many ways brought India in a small elite club of nations, including China, that have the proven IRBM technology, India is still far behind China. In terms of the number of missiles, their range and type, India is no match for China and cannot – and should not – expect to match China missile-by-missile.
A diplomatic fallout of April 18, event is going to be China’s attitude that is expected to harden. The state-owned English daily of China, Global Times, on April 19, warned India saying: “India should not overestimate its strength. Even if it has missiles that could reach most parts of China, that does not mean it will gain anything from being arrogant during disputes with China. India should be clear that China's nuclear power is stronger and more reliable. For the foreseeable future, India would stand no chance in an overall arms race with China.”
A number of new technologies developed indigenously were successfully tested in Agni-V mission. The redundant Navigation systems, very high accuracy Ring Laser Gyro based Inertial Navigation System (RINS) and the most modern and accurate Micro Navigation System (MINS) ensured the missile reach the target point within few meters of accuracy. The high speed onboard computer and fault tolerant software along with robust and reliable bus guided the missile flawlessly.
