Mission Divyastra

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted first successful flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-Entry Vehicle ( MIRV) technology.
• The flight test named Mission Divyastra was carried out from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha.
• The project was led by a woman scientist from the country’s missile complex in Hyderabad, Sheena Rani, who has been working on the Agni missile systems since 1999.

ABOUT MIRV TECHNOLOGY

• The first country to develop MIRV technology was USA which deployed a MIRVed Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) in 1970.
• MIRV technology ensures that a single missile can deploy multiple war heads and hit targets at different locations simultaneously.
• It can help evade enemy anti-ballistic missile system capabilities.
• The warheads on MIRVs can be launched at different speeds and in different directions.
• India has become sixth country to have MIRV-capable missiles after US, UK, Russia, France and China.