Original source
By PALASH R. GHOSH:
April 17, 2012 12:06 PM EDT
Less than a week after North Korea's failed rocket launch, India may be on the verge of test-firing a nuclear-capable missile that has the ability to reach all parts of Asia and even parts of Eastern Europe,according to reports.
The 50-ton, 20-meter Agni V rocket – also known as the “China Killer” in Indian media -- boasts a range of more than 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles).
Other series of Agni rockets have smaller ranges that were designed to protect India’s borders with Pakistan.
According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald ofAustralia, the Agni V missile will probably be fired from Wheeler Island off the eastern coast of Orissa province between Tuesday and Friday.
A spokesman for India's Defense Research and Development Organization, Ravi Gupta, said in a statement that the launch time is flexible ''because this is our longest-range missile and there are many logistics issues and hence we don't plan for one day.”
The rocket, he added, is designed “to meet our present-day threat perceptions, which are determined by our defense forces and other agencies,” a likely reference to historical enemies, China andPakistan.
"This missile is about neutralizing the threat coming from China,'' said Uday Bhaskar, an analyst at the New Delhi-based National Maritime Foundation, said, according to Bloomberg.
''The tests are about trying to create equality with China rather than trying to outdo it.''
China and India, the two vast nations that dominate Asia, have long disputed large portions of their 2,200 mile border and fought a war in 1962. Still, as far as nuclear stakes are concerned, China is believed to have almost six times as many warheads as India does.
If successful, India would become only the sixth nation to publicly deploy intercontinental ballistic missiles. The five other countries with that capability -- the U.S., China, Russia, the UK and France -- comprise the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
Other series of Agni rockets have smaller ranges that were designed to protect India’s borders with Pakistan.
According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald ofAustralia, the Agni V missile will probably be fired from Wheeler Island off the eastern coast of Orissa province between Tuesday and Friday.
A spokesman for India's Defense Research and Development Organization, Ravi Gupta, said in a statement that the launch time is flexible ''because this is our longest-range missile and there are many logistics issues and hence we don't plan for one day.”
The rocket, he added, is designed “to meet our present-day threat perceptions, which are determined by our defense forces and other agencies,” a likely reference to historical enemies, China andPakistan.
"This missile is about neutralizing the threat coming from China,'' said Uday Bhaskar, an analyst at the New Delhi-based National Maritime Foundation, said, according to Bloomberg.
''The tests are about trying to create equality with China rather than trying to outdo it.''
China and India, the two vast nations that dominate Asia, have long disputed large portions of their 2,200 mile border and fought a war in 1962. Still, as far as nuclear stakes are concerned, China is believed to have almost six times as many warheads as India does.
If successful, India would become only the sixth nation to publicly deploy intercontinental ballistic missiles. The five other countries with that capability -- the U.S., China, Russia, the UK and France -- comprise the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
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