India on June 28, 2021 successfully carried out the test-firing of its new generation nuclear-capable Agni P (Agni Prime) missile off the coast of Odisha from APJ Abdul Kalam Island. The surface-to-surface ballistic missile has a range of 1000 to 2000 km. The sleek missile is an advanced variant in the Agni series.
The trajectory of the missile was monitored by sophisticated tracking radars and telemetry along the coast line. The nuclear-capable missile, designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), met all mission objectives with high level of accuracy.
Agni Prime is the first of the new class of Agni missile launched by DRDO. It weighs 50 per cent less than Agni 3 and has new guidance and a new generation of propulsion. It can be launched from rail and road and stored for a longer period and transported all across the country as per operational requirements because of being canisterised.
It will replace Prithvi, and tactical surface-to-surface short-range ballistic missiles, Agni-I and Agni-II. These missiles were made two decades back and need to be replaced with a new generation advanced version.
India’s first intermediate-range ballistic missile, Agni-I was successfully test-fired in May 1989, which was inducted into service in 2004. The missile has a range capability between 700 and 900 kilometres. It is one of the five missiles developed by the DRDO in 1983 under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. In the current scenario, their technologies have become obsolete.
A canister for a missile provides an environmental container and a launching tube. It can be either hot launch, where the missile ignites in the cell; or cold launch, where the missile is expelled by gas produced by a gas generator which is not part of the missile itself, and then the missile ignites.
The important functions of canister-based launch system are: It serves as a container for transportation and it is always easy to carry missiles in canister. It provides a housing during storage aboard a vessel, and thus provides operational flexibility.
Upper and lower guide rails provide canister support to a missile during storage and are used to direct the missile during its initial period of acceleration during launch. Frangible covers are provided for closing from and aft openings (opening from the back) of the canister. Locking and safety devices are provided on the canister to lock a missile in position until the desired time of launch.
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