One missile, many weapons: What makes the latest Agni-5 special?

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Defence

Context:

India has successfully tested an Agni-5 missile equipped with MIRV technology, joining a small group of countries with this capability.

More on news:

Vice-President lauds the success of Mission Divyastra, the first flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile.
The Agni-5 missile is capable of carrying multiple warheads and striking multiple targets.
The most important thing about this new missile is its integration with what is known as the MIRV technology.
An MIRV-equipped missile has never been used so far in any conflict situation.
Arms control advocates argue that MIRV technology incentivises the urge to strike first, thus increasing the risk from nuclear weapons.

What is Mission Divyastra?

The successful launch of Mission Divyastra by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an important milestone in India’s nuclear capability.
This is the first flight test of indigenously developed 5,000-km range Agni-5 nuclear missile, equipped with the Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle (MIRV) technology.

What is MIRV technology?

MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle) technology is the capability that allows multiple warheads to be loaded on a single missile delivery system and programmed to hit different targets, thus greatly enhancing the missile’s destructive potential.
The development of MIRV capability marks a significant upgrade for India’s missile systems, and expands its nuclear options.
Traditional missiles carry a single warhead, or weapon, that goes and hits the intended target.
MIRV-equipped missiles can accommodate multiple warheads, each of which can be programmed to strike a separate target.
They can all be made to hit the same location too, one after the other, thus ensuring complete annihilation of the target.

Origin of MIRV technology:

The technology is not new.
It was developed in the 1960s and first deployed in the 1970s by the United States and the then Soviet Union.
The warheads have to be miniaturized, be equipped with independent guidance and navigation controls, and released sequentially from the delivery system.
Over the years, France, the United Kingdom, and China have developed this technology.
Pakistan too has claimed to have tested an MIRV-equipped missile called Ababeel, first in 2017 and then in 2023.

Advantages oF MIRV technology

Apart from the obvious advantage of inflicting multiple damages with a single strike, MIRV is a sought-after military technology for several other reasons.
It has the ability to penetrate missile defense systems.
A missile defense system is a network of technologies aimed at detecting, tracking, intercepting and destroying an incoming missile.
It involves the deployment of sophisticated radars, communication systems, and interceptor missiles.
It’s considered a good safeguard against traditional missiles, and several countries are in the process of developing or strengthening their missile defense systems.
MIRV-equipped missiles, however, can render the system useless.
Multiple warheads, each with an independent trajectory, can make the job of tracking and intercepting extremely complicated.
MIRV-equipped missiles can be made to carry decoy warheads to confuse the defense system.
The response strike could be disproportionate, and can thus serve as a deterrence to the enemy.

Agni upgrade

The integration of MIRV technology is a long-awaited upgrade for the Agni family of short, medium and intercontinental range ballistic missiles indigenously developed by the DRDO.
Agni missiles are the main land-based delivery systems for India’s nuclear weapons.
Developed in the 1990s, the first-generation Agni missiles were deployed in the armed forces in the mid-2000s.
Agni-1 to Agni-IV missiles have ranges between 700 to 3,500 km and can carry single payloads weighing between 12 and 40 kilotons.
Agni-5, the version that has been equipped with MIRV technology, can travel more than 5,000 km, and can potentially enter the intercontinental range as well, considered to be 5,500 km and above.
Its previous flight happened in December 2022, when its night-time capabilities were tested, among other things.
DRDO has also been developing Agni-P missiles, which are modernized versions of the short-range Agni-1 and Agni-2 variety.