India joins elite club, successfully tests Agni missile with MIRV technology

BHUBANESWAR: India has achieved a major milestone in its defence capabilities by successfully testing an advanced Agni missile equipped with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology.

This is a ballistic missile payload system capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads on a single missile to strike different targets. It cannot be detected or intercepted by radar. The test was conducted at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha. The trial, involving multiple payloads directed at various targets in the Indian Ocean region, was monitored in real-time via land and ship-based stations to ensure its success. Precision was maintained from the missile's lift-off until the impact of all payloads. India has now become one of the few countries to possess missiles with MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle) capability. Currently, this system is only available to the U.S., Russia, China, the U.K., and France.

While the Ministry of Defence has not officially disclosed which specific variant of the Agni missile was used, the system was developed by the DRDO in collaboration with various industrial units. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO and the Indian Army on this significant achievement.