Agni-V Missile Equipped with MIRV Technology

General Studies Paper -3

Context: India recently successfully tested a new Agni-V missile with MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle) technology, capable of carrying multiple warheads and striking multiple targets.

MIRV technology

• MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle)technology is the capability that allows multiple warheads to be loaded on a single missile delivery system and programmed to hit different targets, thus greatly enhancing the missile’s destructive potential.
• They can all be made to hit the same location too,one after the other, thus ensuring complete annihilation of the target.
• The technology was developed in the 1960sand first deployed in the 1970s by the United States and the then Soviet Union.
• Over the years,France, the United Kingdom, and eventually China have developed this technology. Pakistan too has claimed to have tested an MIRV-equipped missile called Ababeel, first in 2017 and then in 2023.
• The number of warheads that a missile can carry depends on its design, weight, size, range and other parameters.The one that India tested can carry three to four
• However, an MIRV-equipped missile has never been used so far in any conflict situation.Arms control advocates argue that MIRV technology incentivises the urge to strike first, thus increasing the risk from nuclear weapons.

Advantages of MIRV Technology

• Apart from the obvious advantage of inflicting multiple damages with a single strike, MIRV is a sought-after military technology for its ability to penetrate missile defence systems.
• A missile defence system is a network of technologies aimed at detecting, tracking, intercepting and destroying an incoming missile. It’s considered a good safeguard against traditional missiles.
• Another key strategic benefit, especially for countries like India which has a no-first use policy for nuclear weapons, is the capability to cause crippling damage in a response strike. The response strike could be disproportionate, and can thus serve as a deterrence to the enemy.

Agni-V Missile: One Missile, Many Weapons

• The integration of MIRV technology is a long-awaited upgrade for the Agni family of short, medium and intercontinental range ballistic missiles indigenously developed by the DRDO.
• Agni missiles are the main land-based delivery systems for India’s nuclear weapons.
• Developed in the 1990s, the first-generation Agni missiles were deployed in the armed forces in the mid-2000s.
• Agni-I to Agni-IV missiles have ranges between 700 to 3,500 km and can carry single payloads weighing between 12 and 40 kilotons. 
• Agni-V, the version that has been equipped with MIRV technology, can travel more than 5,000 km,and can potentially enter the intercontinental range as well, considered to be 5,500 km and above.
• Meanwhile, DRDO has also been developing Agni-P missiles,which are modernised versions of the short-range Agni-1 and Agni-2 variety. There was the expectation that it would be integrated with MIRV technology.
• The acquisition of MIRV technology by India was keenly awaited after China developed it in the last decade. With Pakistan also claiming to have tested a missile with this technology,integrating this in Agni missiles had become an imperative.
• The next generation Agni-VI missile, currently under development, is also expected to be equipped with MIRV.