With Agni V test, India makes the MIRV leap
- March 17, 2024
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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With Agni V test, India makes the MIRV leap
Subject: Science and tech
Section: Defence
Context:
- On March 11, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on social media the successful flight test of an Agni V ballistic missile with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) technology.
What are MIRVs and why are they significant?
- A MIRV is a ‘missile bus’ whose passengers are nuclear bombs and which facilitates a single booster to deliver them to different targets.
- MIRVs are a “force multiplier” because one MIRV-ed missile can strike several targets.
- MIRVs are also useful for saturating and penetrating ballistic missile defenses.
- In 1970, the U.S. started to deploy the Minuteman III, the first MIRV-ed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with three warheads on each missile.
- In 1971, it deployed the Poseidon, the first MIRV-ed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).
- The Soviet Union followed the U.S. and by the 1970s developed its own MIRV-ed ICBM and SLBM technology.
- The U.K. and France also possess the technology.
- China has developed and deployed MIRV technology with multiple warheads placed on its DF-5B ICBMs and is fast expanding and modernizing its nuclear arsenal.
What was the Mission Divyastra test?
- The MIRV system is equipped with indigenous avionics systems and high accuracy sensor packages that ensure the re-entry vehicles reach the target points with the desired accuracy.
- The ‘Agni’ series of missiles constitute the backbone of India’s nuclear weapons delivery, and Agni V is the longest range missile in the arsenal, with a reach of over 5,000 km.
- This means it can reach most of China, especially with a smaller warhead, which would increase the range further.
- MIRV technology gives better leverage in this regard.