India has decided to strengthen her strategic stature with the integration of Agni-III Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) into the armed forces and development of Agni IV, a 5000 kms range Inter Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which successfully tested Agni III with a 3,500 kms flight range a few months ago, now plans to hand over the strategic missile system to the armed forces. The integration of the missile into the military is a major milestone.

An ICBM is a 5,500 kms plus range ballistic missile designed for nuclear weapons delivery. In a nuclear war scenario, land-based and submarine launched ICBMs owing to their great range and firepower, possess the maximum destructive force, this is followed by nuclear-armed fighter bomber aircraft. For India to develop an ICBM required the political to give the go ahead to conduct flight tests.

The benefits
The decision to develop an Agni IV missile with a 5000 kms flight range will propel India into a different league. Only the five permanent members on the UN Security Council have operational ICBM systems. For India to therefore be able to master ICBM technology suggests a quantum jump in design and development of propulsion and guidance systems.

The tri-services Strategic Forces Command (SFC) established in 2002 with personnel from the army, air force and navy manages the country’s ballistic missile forces. The two missile systems which are in military readiness or operational include the Agni I and Agni II, besides the Prithvi tactical missile. This implies that the army has already cleared for launch operations the Agni- I and Agni- II IRBMs.

For the DRDO, handing over the Agni III to the military involves training army personnel from the Corps of Artillery, Electrical Mechanical Engineers, Signals, besides the Air Defence Artillery to operate the Agni III missile. These personnel drawn from the various streams of the army are undergoing training in maintenance and launch operations for offensive deployment of the Agni III. The training involves evolving elaborate user documentation for the army to absorb the missile system.

The SFC has created these special teams whose personnel would have longer tenures of duty lasting seven to eight years to ensure the technical expertise imbibed is not lost due to short tenures.  Normal tenures of duty for army personnel in a particular appointment generally do not exceed two to three years.

The DRDO on its part has involved the army during the Agni development trials phase since 2002 to ensure system awareness and better user involvement. The army's involvement is useful because it enables the missile designers to eliminate glitches over ergonomic issues in field conditions.

To illustrate the point, for instance if a soldier, who operates the missile system needs to climb five steps up a ladder to switch on a control lever, decides to walk up only three steps to do so it could make a difference. The difference in height from which bodily pressure is applied on the control lever could even break it. The degree of “ruggedisation” therefore in various systems or equipment to handle deviations under field conditions is an important dimension of user involvement during development trials.

Another step
The DRDO also plans to extend the Prithvi short range tactical missile with a 250 kms range to 350 kms which is another significant step in missile development. This is because the Prithvi and the Agni missiles are the only two missiles in the 1983 Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme that the DRDO has operationalised successfully. Ballistic missiles assume importance in a potential conflict between two nuclear weapon states because they can be used for both “contact” and “depth” battles.

This enables two belligerent countries to continue hostilities in a conventional mode rather than unnecessarily engaging each other in a nuclear war. The process of handing over the Agni III to the army therefore suggests a pragmatic shift in defence posture to deter military adventurism either along the western or northern borders.