Mission Divyastra

Mission Divyastra

Why it is in news:
• India has announced the successful testing of an Agni missile capable of carrying multiple warheads meant to hit multiple targets simultaneously.
• The test was carried out from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast.
• The success of Mission Divyastra was announced by PM Modi.
• This technology will ensure that a single missile can deploy multiple war heads at different locations.
• This system is equipped with indigenous avionics systems and high accuracy sensor packages, which ensured that the re-entry vehicles reached the target points within the desired accuracy.

What is MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle) technology?
• MIRVs were originally developed in the early 1960s to allow a single missile to carry multiple nuclear warheads, each capable of striking different targets.
• The inception of MIRV technology was done by the United States with deploying:
o a MIRVed Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) in 1970 and
o a MIRVed Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) in 1971.
• The MIRV can target multiple targets that can be hundreds of kilometers apart with a single missile.
• As of now, the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom are known to have MIRVequipped missiles.
• While Pakistan is developing such a missile system, Israel too is suspected to either possess the missile or be developing it.
• These missiles can be launched from land or from sea (or from a submarine).
• In contrast to a traditional missile, which carries one warhead, MIRVed missiles warheads can be released from the missile at different speeds and in different directions.
• The development of MIRV technology is not easy.
o It requires the combination of large missiles, small warheads, accurate guidance, and a complex mechanism for releasing warheads sequentially during flight.

Agni missiles
History of Agni missiles
• The Agni missile is a component of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP) that was launched by India in 1983.
• In 1989, India test fired Agni 1 category missile
• The family consists of short to long range surface to surface ballistic missiles. These are
o Agni I - short-range ballistic missile (range – 700 to 1200 km)
o Agni II – medium-range ballistic missile (range –2000 to 3500 Km)
o Agni III – intermediate-range ballistic missile (range – 3000 to 5000 Km)
o Agni IV - intermediate-range ballistic missile (range – 3500 to 4000 Km)
o Agni V – Inter-continental ballistic missile (range - 5500 to 8000 Km)

Agni V
• Agni is a long-range missile developed indigenously by DRDO.
• This latest variant of the missile is equipped with what is known as MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle) technology.
• This Agni, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, has a range of more than 5,000 km, making it a long-range missile.
• India announced the development of Agni V in 2007.
• The maiden flight test of Agni-V was conducted in April 2012.
• Agni-V uses a three-stage solid fueled engine and can reach most parts of China. It is aimed mainly at thwarting the challenge from China.