Launching Agni – V: Some Reflections
Like numerous other national and international dailies, the Himalayan Mirror of 20 April 2012 notified its readers about the successful test-launching of Agni-V, India’s first intercontinental ballistic missile (I.C.B.M.) that has an approximate range of 5,000 kilometres – according to announcements of officials of the Defence Research Development Organisation (D.R.D.O.) – extendible unto 8,000 kilometres or even more, as estimated by the researcher Du Wenlong of China’s People's Liberation Army Academy of Military Sciences (P.L.A.A.M.S.) – from Odisha’s Wheeler Islands at 08:07 a.m. of 19 April 2012. With the 17.5-metre-long and 50,000-kilogram-weighing ballistic missile precisely hitting an Indian Ocean target 5,000 kilometres away after only 20 minutes of flight, India, which presently maintains the world’s largest standing volunteer army, has propelled itself into the very small and elite list of countries that have indigenously-developed missiles of over 5,000-kilometre-range: China, France, Russia, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom. While the Obama administration of the U.S.A. has adopted a neutral – or, even, congratulatory – stance regarding India’s Agni V test-launch, the state-run Chinese newspaper Global Times has lambasted the Indian defence officials for their ‘missile delusion’, and cautioned the Euro-American countries about the ‘fact’ that ‘India’s military spending has increased by over 17 percent in 2012’ and that it has ‘again’ become world’s ‘largest importer of ammunitions’. Of all the countries, China and Pakistan seem to be most concerned about the successful test-firing of the Indian I.C.B.M.
The following chart makes a comparative study of some of the more powerful postmodern I.C.B.M.s (some of which are launched from submarines) by their countries of development/deployment:
Name of the I.C.B.M./S.L.B.M. Common Name/N.A.T.O. Reporting Name Country of Development/Deployment Approximate Effective Range (in kilometres) Approximate Weight (in kilograms) Length (in metres) Diameter (in metres)
Dong Feng 31-A East Wind/ C.S.S. – 10 China 11,200 – 12,000 42,000 13 2.25
Dong Feng 41 East Wind/ C.S.S. – X – 10 China 15,000 --- --- 2
Dong Feng 5 Eurus 5 China 12,000 – 15,000 183,000 32.6 3.35
J.L. 2 Giant Wave – 2 China 12,000 – 14,000 42,000 13 2.25
M 45 M 45 France 6,000 35,000 11.05 1.93
M 51 M 51 France 10,000 52,000 12 2.3
Agni V Fire India 5,000 – 8,000 50,000 17.5 2
Jericho III Jericho Israel 4,800 – 11,000 30,000 15.5 1.56
R.S.M. 56 Bulava Russia 8,000 – 10,000 36,800 11.5 2
R.T.-2U.T.T.KhTopol-M S.S. 27 Sickle B Russia 11,000 47, 200 22.7 1.9
R.S. 24 Yars Russia 11,000 210,000 23 2
R.T.-2 P.M. Topol S.S. – 25 Sickle Russia 10,500 45,100 21.5 1.8
L.G.M. 30 Minuteman U.S.A. 8,100 35,300 18.2 1.7
L.G.M. 118 A Peacekeeper U.S.A. 9,600 87,752 21.8 2.3
U.G.M. 133 Trident II Trident D 5 S.L.B.M. U.S.A. and U.K. 11,300 58,500 13.41 2.11
India’s test-launching of Agni V comes at a significant time. Come October 2012, it would be fifty years of the Sino-Indian War, a 20 October-21 November 1962 border conflict at Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh which found approximately 12,000 Indian military personnel confronting over 80,000 People’s Liberation Army (P.L.A.) cadres, and which ended in military victory for the Chinese. Though the relationship between the two South Asian neighbours, which had nose-dived since the war, improved in the first decade of the 21st century, there have had been intermittent diplomatic unpleasantries in 2012. In February 2012, it was estimated that India will reach U.S. $ 100 billion trade with China by 2015, and yet the two countries are cautiously expanding and modernising their respective arsenals. D.R.D.O. officials are, however, maintaining that the April 2012 missile testing is neither aimed at accelerating the South Asian arms’ race nor planned against any neighbouring nation. Rather it would act as a deterrent for any country should it plan to attack India. The South Asian giant has had faced four major international conflicts since its independence from the English rule: other than the 1962 Sino-Indian War, it was involved in belligerence with Pakistan in 1947 (21 October 1947-31 December 1948), 1965 (5 August-23 September 1965), 1971 (3-16 December 1971), and 1999 (3 May-26 July 1999). Nevertheless, in spite of its possession of missiles by the 1999 Kargil War, India never used them against its enemies. The above chart, on the other hand, suggests that India is consolidating its position as a respectable power. Its missile arsenal consists of the Agnis, the Prithvis, the Dhanushses, the Brahmoses, the Sagarikas and the Shauryas, among others. Under development are the Agni VI I.C.B.M.s and the Nirbhay subsonic cruise missiles. In spite of its nuclear capabilities, stock of missiles, and superior armed troops, the world’s largest democracy is resolved to maintain international peace and harmony and strictly observes a ‘no-first-strike’ policy.
India is constantly being ravaged by international armed insurgents, and yet the country’s restraint and tactics in dealing with terrorists have earned it respect in the west. The countrymen, however, has obvious reasons to be proud of their armed forces. The world’s largest standing volunteer army consists of approximately 1.4 million active and 0.9 million reserve personnel. Indian Air Force is the fourth largest in the world. Indian Navy is world’s fifth largest naval force. Reports from the Foundation for National Security Research (F.N.S.R.) indicate that in recent years India has carefully and yet speedily consolidated strategic partnerships with Russia, the U.S.A., and France not only for modernising its troops but also to play major roles in world affairs, especially in ending international conflicts. In spite of the fact that the South Asian country, which is globally the fourth largest economic power in terms of real G.D.P. and the second-fastest growing major economy, has the third largest armed force in 21st century world, it has never sought to colonise any country, neither has it ever acted as an aggressor. The land of Mahāvīra (c. 599 B.C.-c. 527 B.C.) and Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha (c. 563 B.C.-c. 483 B.C.) and, and, later, of Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948), loves peace and believes in maintaining international harmony as long as possible. So if the D.R.D.O. officials have successfully test-fired a missile, it is most likely that it is for strengthening the country’s military arsenal against any unreasonable invader rather than to terrorise any nation.
- Reported by: Pinaki Roy; Balurghat, 22 April 2012.
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