India successfully launches Agni-1 ballistic missile

New Delhi: A successful training launch of a Medium-Range Ballistic Missile, Agni-1 was carried out by the Strategic Forces Command from APJ Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha on June 01, 2023. 

The defence ministry in a statement said, the missile is a proven system, capable of striking targets with a very high degree of precision. The user training launch successfully validated all operational and technical parameters of the missile. 

The Agni-I is an Indian short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) with a range of 700 km. The Indian Army's Strategic Forces Command first deployed the nuclear-capable, road-mobile missile in 2007. 

The Agni-I originated from India's 1983 Integrated Guided Missile Development Program, which also developed the Prithvi, Nag, Akash, and Trishul missiles. 

The Agni-I is 15 m long, 1 m in diameter, and has a launch weight of 12,000 kg. It has a range of 700 km with an estimated payload of 1,000 kg, which allows it to carry nuclear warheads.5 With reduced payloads, the Agni-I may be capable of ranging up to 1,200 km, a distance which encompasses all of Pakistan.

It employs a 1 m-diameter solid-propellant booster modified from the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) SLV-3. Unlike the SLV-3, the motor employs HTPB composite propellant and produces roughly 48,000 kg of thrust. The missile employs a strapdown inertial guidance system and uses thrust vectoring and control surfaces on its wingtips to maneuver. 

India's Strategic Forces Command has regularly tested the Agni-I since its initial deployment.

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