India: Missle test a ‘war-like scenario’

New Delhi: For the first time, the Strategic Forces Team of the Indian Army has carried out a training trial of the nuclear capable Agni-II missile, which has a range of over 2,000 km.

The Defence Ministry announced that the trial at Wheeler Island off the Orissa coast was carried out by the Strategic Forces team, which is responsible for handling India's nuclear arsenal. Incidentally, the announcement is a departure from the norms of the government, which has not been very public about the test firing of nuclear-capable missiles by the Strategic Forces.

Sources said that the trial was a success and the missile was fired with “clockwork precision” from a rail-based mobile launcher. The event was also witnessed by senior officers of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

While Agni-II was first tested in 1999 and was then inducted into the Armed Forces in 2002, this is the first time that it has been fired independently by the Strategic Forces.

What this means is that the Strategic Forces validated their standard operating procedures and drills on the nuclear-capable missile and fully operationalised and tested it in a ‘war-like scenario’. The missile can be launched from a train-based or road-based launcher, giving it immense mobility and flexibility in deployment.

Source: indianexpress.com - Link

India ballistic missile Info From Wikipedia: It has been reported that the missile's Circular Error Probable (CEP) lies in the range of 40 meters, which, if confirmed, would make the Agni-III one of ^[5]the most accurate strategic ballistic missile of its range class in the world.^[6]

This is of special significance because a highly accurate ballistic missile increases the "kill efficiency" of the weapon; it allows Indian weapons designers to use smaller yield nuclear warheads (200 Kiloton thermonuclear or boosted fission) while increase the lethality of the strike.

This permits India to deploy a much larger nuclear force using less fissile/fusion material (Plutonium/Lithium Deuteride) than other Asian nuclear powers.

Older, less accurate ballistic missiles, such as those deployed by earlier nuclear powers require larger yield (1-2 Megaton) warheads to achieve the same level of lethality. It has also been reported that with smaller payloads, the Agni-II can hit strategic targets well beyond 3500 km.

Source: wikipedia.org - Link