Wednesday, April 18, 2012
The Associated Press
NEW DELHI — India announced the successful test launch
Thursday of a new nuclear-capable missile that would give it the
capability of striking the major Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai
for the first time.
The Agni-V missile, with a range of 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles),
still requires a battery of tests before it can be inducted into
India’s arsenal. But officials hailed the successful launch as a major
boost to the country’s efforts to counter China’s regional dominance and
become a respected world power in its own right.
“The nation stands tall today,” Defense Minister A.K. Antony said, according to the Press Trust of India.
The test came just days after North Korea’s own failed rocket launch,
but sparked none of the same global condemnation that greeted that
test.
Video released by the government showed the Agni-V taking off from a
small launcher on what appeared to be railroad tracks at 8:07 a.m. from
Wheeler Island off India’s east coast. It rose on a pillar of flame,
trailing billows of smoke behind, before arcing through the sky.
The missile hit an altitude of more than 600 kilometers (370 miles),
its three stages worked properly and its payload was deployed as
planned, the head of India’s Defense Research and Development
Organization, Vijay Saraswat, told Times Now news channel.
“India has emerged from this launch as a major missile power,” he said.
The window for the launch opened Wednesday night, but the test had to be postponed because of weather conditions.
Avinash Chandra, mission director for the test, said that when the
launch took place Thursday morning the missile performed as planned.
“We have achieved exactly what we wanted to achieve in this mission,” he told Times Now.
The Chinese government did not immediately comment on the missile
launch. State-owned China Central Television called the test “a historic
moment for India and it shows that India has joined the club of the
countries that own ballistic missiles.”
The state broadcaster then enumerated some of the missile’s
shortcomings, from a problem with guidance systems to its 50-ton-plus
weight, which it said would require it to be fired from fixed, not
mobile positions and thus make it more vulnerable to attack.
“It does not pose a threat in reality,” CCTV said.
The Agni-V is a solid-fuel, three-stage missile designed to carry a
1.5-ton nuclear warhead. It stands 17.5 meters (57 feet) tall and was
built almost completely with Indian-made technology at a reported cost
of 25 billion rupees ($486 million). It can be moved across the country
by road or rail and can be used to carry multiple warheads or to launch
satellites into orbit.
The missile will need four or five more trials before it can be
inducted into India’s arsenal at some point in 2014 or 2015, Indian
officials said.
China is far ahead of India in the missile race, with
intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching anywhere in
India. Currently, the longest-range Indian missile, the Agni-III, has a
range of 3,500 kilometers (2,100 miles) and falls short of many major
Chinese cities.
India hailed Thursday’s test as a major step in its fight to be seen as a world power.
“India has today become a nation with the capability to develop,
produce, build long-range ballistic missiles and today we are among the
six countries who have this capability,” Saraswat said.
Analysts say France, Russia, China and the United States have this
technology, while Israel is also believed to have developed such
missiles.
India and China fought a war in 1962 and continue to nurse a border
dispute. India has also been suspicious of Beijing’s efforts to increase
its influence in the Indian Ocean in recent years.
“While China doesn’t really consider India any kind of a threat or
any kind of a rival, India definitely doesn’t think in the same way,”
said Rahul Bedi, a defense analyst in New Delhi.
India already has the capability of hitting anywhere inside archrival
Pakistan, but has engaged in a splurge of defense spending in recent
years to counter the perceived Chinese threat.
The Indian navy took command of a Russian nuclear submarine earlier
this year, and India is expected to take delivery of a retrofitted
Soviet-built aircraft carrier soon.
The new Agni, named for the Hindi word for fire, is part of this
military buildup and was designed to hit deep inside China, Bedi said.
Government officials said the missile should not be seen as a threat.
“We have a declared no-first-use policy, and all our missile systems,
they are not country specific. There is no threat to anybody,” said
Ravi Gupta, spokesman for the Defense Research and Development
Organization, which built the missile. “Our missile systems are purely
for deterrence and to meet our security needs.”
The test came days after North Korea’s failed long-range rocket
launch. North Korea said the rocket was launched to put a satellite into
space, but the U.S. and other countries said it was a cover for testing
long-range missile technology.
One Delhi-based Western diplomat dismissed comparisons with the
international condemnation of North Korea’s launch, saying that
Pyongyang was violating U.N. Security Council resolutions requiring it
to suspend its missile program, while India is not considered a global
threat. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not
authorized to comment on India’s security affairs.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the United
States urges all nuclear-capable states to exercise restraint regarding
nuclear capabilities.
“That said, India has a solid non-proliferation record,” he told a
news briefing. “They’re engaged with the international community on
non-proliferation issues.”
Some reports characterized the Agni-V as an intercontinental
ballistic missile — which would make India one of the few countries to
have that capability — but Gupta and analysts said its range fell short
of that category.
India has no need for such sophisticated weapons, said Rajaram
Nagappa, a missile expert and the head of the International Strategic
and Security Studies Program at the National Institute of Advanced
Studies in Bangalore.
“I don’t think our threat perceptions are anything beyond this region,” he said.
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Associated Press writer Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.
