They
also pointed out that Agni-IV was the first ever
missle test by India that soared over 3,000-km
range and "beyond the equator" to the
southern hemisphere.
Avinash Chander of the Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) told reporters that the test
phase for the Agni-IV missile will be completed
in 2012 with repeatable tests and user-trials
in 2013 before it goes for production.
He said this will be the shortest time between
development and production stages of the missile.
Asked if Agni-IV will leave the 2,000-km-range
Agni-II and 3,000-km-range Agni-III redundant,
DRDO Director General V.K. Saraswat said each
of these missiles had their own unique use for
the armed forces and hence would co-exist as operational
weapon systems of the armed forces.
Avinash Chander said Agni-II would be for the
Western sector. Sarawat noted that India's security
needs of these ballistic missiles were limited
and hence deployment will be restricted to certain
sectors for each of the Agni-series missiles.
Saraswat also pointed out that there was a difference
between Agni-III and Agni-IV. The latter was a
much smaller in size but had higher accuracy.
Agni-IV had a "pencil-like" look and
accelerated much more than Agni-III.
(IANS)
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