Agni-VI Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM)

[Payeng]

On second thoughts I was wrong. The image below suggests it's Agni III with the metal faring hidden behind the composites. Like I said it's difficult to identify the proper missile unless you look for the modular changes which sort of shows why Agni series is complete and equivalent to other ICBMS in the world ... But the conical section in the picture near the warhead still leaves be scratching my head ... Two different galleys with AIII and AV being readied?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3EV0k0ooJIY/UYmcaasVVGI/AAAAAAAAD5w/WQ5hCbDlRgQ/s1600/Agni+assembly.jpg

yes it seems like Agni III, I think you got link, maybe you have more image from the same link to share with us....

 

[Abhijeet Dey]

Because China always have to take in the American factor while we do not for any near future.

As of now our threat perceptions lies in our bordering countries and a 6000 km range SLBM will be able to tackle it from the safety of BoB.

Well we must not forget that then US President Richard Nixon had sent US Seventh Fleet against India in support of East Pakistan during 1971 War. Whoever be the future enemies India should develop longer range missiles so that it can reach any part of this planet and act as a deterrent.

 

[olivers]

First stage is the bottom most stage of a missile.

Well, I was describing your picture. Here the missile is on it's side ... Right most stage is the first stage here.

 

[olivers]

yes it seems like Agni III, I think you got link, maybe you have more image from the same link to share with us....

Dunno if this is what you want. I don't have any other link. Looks like two different views of Agni III here.

Broadsword: Advanced Agni-6 missile with multiple warheads likely by 2017

 

[Payeng]

US Peacekeeper Missile, @ 2.3 m fat and 21.8 m tall something Agni VI should look like (a little bit shorter @ 17m) as per available information.

 

[sayareakd]

this may be Agni V but I have never seen this particular image before, if anyone have better resolution picture, I would love to see it, thank you.

they make it look so easy to build.

 

[sayareakd]

Chini doing the same thing

 

[Payeng]

Chini doing the same thing

Chinis have more computers and gadgets per missile

 

[sayareakd]

Chinis have more computers and gadgets per missile

must be watching chini prono on ICBM computer

 

[Neil]

Chini doing the same thing

whats the name of the missile they are assembling...??

 

[SamwiseTheBrave]

The inside story of SLBM K-15 » Indian Defence Review

Being developed now is the follow-on 20-tonne 10.22-metre long but fatter K-4 SLBM which will have a 3,500km-range for the next ATVs with bigger plugs as increasing the range is now possible. This will be followed by an enhanced 12-metre-long version of the K-4 SLBM with a 5,000km-range.

Well more importantly, AC has confirmed that Agni VI/VII/ Agni V+ will be 13 meteres eventually. The rest of the K-4 and K4++ are just stop-gaps. They maybe deployed in Arihant and then retired quickly to be replaced with the 3 tonne missile disclosed above. The warheads are changed, the throw-weight is adjusted and so on. 300kg x 10 Thermonukes, or 300kg x 4 for a longer throw distance. The yield could also be varied from 150 to 300KT based on requirements. If we have a thermonuke with a primary and the secondary ignited and only BARC is privy to radiological tests, the blanket can be dialed up or down. So yes as a stop-gap the 5,000km K-4 and 3500km K-4 are being developed and deployed.

I had written about modularity of the missiles a year back. I think it bears repetition. Please also look at my previous posts in this very thread where I talk about the modular extensions to the Agni series.

Agni III --- Has metal faring separator --- Metal missile body
Agni V --- Has no metal separator --- All composite body with a metal motor in the first stage, biggest composite motor in second stage
Agni VII --- Has no metal separator --- All composite body with all composite motors (3 tonne missile)

All of these misslies are interchangeable or rather upgradeable. To further add to confusion Agni VII as I describe above is the counter-value missile disclosed in the business standard article.

Agni VII will be SLBM. So the nomenclature will be fluid and DRDO might just name AVII described above as AVI to confuse observers.

Why does the missile have a 3 tonne payload? The answer for everyone in the west is ... India has bad heavy nukes unlike the west ... Nice enough cover to get to Surya II. BTW, if you notice what I have written, Surya II/Agni VI/VII is just another composite motor plus some engineering away. We already built the biggest composite motor for the second stage in Agni V. Now they need to replace the metal motor in the first stage of Agni V with a bigger composite motor according to AC. Please also remember what AC suggested after Agni V. We can build ICBMs with range and payload matching the rest of the world's best missiles, because of modularity. If people still demand more like Abhijeet with a 16K+ missile, A VI is that missile, which can be engineered as opposed to innovated. The re-entry vehicle and the mach numbers from Agni V was the signal that every innovation challenge to 16K or whatever K missile is behind us. All the modules are in place, all the legos are available.

Re-entry temperature and Mach speed of the previous A 5 launch was pretty close to some missile systems with names starting with trident, minuteman and such others. Please check the data. So if the re-entry vehicle is ready for the range, then the difference lies in the payload. We can continue to use the American perception cultivated or otherwise that our warheads are so heavy we need the same missiles the west needs to haul ass over 15,000 kilometers.

Please also read how the americans used minuteman and developed it. They had a digital computer and INS. The INS was updated with new data all the time to make the missiles more accurate. So the beauty of the Agni/Surya morphology is modularity and the extensions to range, payload and accuracy. It's a process which is shared by all our missiles with a similar INS across the board. You need to map the earth for variations of physical parameters to feed the INS. I don't know if we have done that yet or how much of the earth we have covered. So a lot of things play into the ICBM INS, which are em... engineering challenges and not innovation challenges.

Agni IV/V was an innovation challenge in getting retro separation, removing interconnection faring of A III etc. A VI/VII is an engineering challenge. Hope this answers some of the questions.

I know we are used to this talk about 5,000km 3,500km, 2000km with insane payloads of 2 tonnes and 3 tonnes. I mean lets be serious. India had 3500km in 2001 or 2002. Not very reliable, but yes we did have it. So in another decade we just moved to 5k? Please check comparable systems and tell me why the specifications of A VI/AVII match the specs of Trident II in everything except range? Your answer can be a) we need to haul a 1 to 1.5 tonne nuke while others are hauling a 300kg nuke or b) our propellents are from Diwali fireworks company or c) the warhead is deliberately made heavier to confuse the observers while keeping friends from prematurely getting worried/give them plausible deniability and the opportunity to express shock when the real range is revealed.

You can choose your favorite option. All three are plausible, but which of these is true. I lean towards C, unless proof emerges otherwise. C is more plausible if we are talking about MIRV/MARV development being the next challenge. It's amply clear DRDO feels they have these capabilities or are going to test them soon. I am ready to knock DRDO around on a lot of areas. We lack production facilities for our missiles. We did horribly so far with the Tejas, Arjun etc. However, they were not all white elephants. Jet engines are a problem for China just as much as it is for India. China is milling around the former soviet union to get things done, so are we.

However, the ballistic missile program is one space where they have overcome a lot of problems. Give them credit where it is due. The missiles are among the best in the world. Think trident II levels of sophistication and range in 7 years. 2020 was always the coming of age of India in the nuclear domain. This was also the policy objective in our enrichment efforts. Look at how far we are with the RMP enrichment plant and how many warheads we will have by 2020 and how many by 2025. The minimum credible deterrent is getting there. It's global. We are not idiots to ever forget the seventh fleet, give credit to a lot of governments who have followed through on this. (Every single one of them from 1950 onward ...) We made horrible mistakes, gave up a lot of things we should not have, we still make mistakes in nuclear deals and so on, but India did try her very best and is almost there.

Anyways, I should stop here.

why stop - please do continue

 

[sayareakd]

whats the name of the missile they are assembling...??

DF 31A

 

[kurup]

DF 31A

Are canister missiles fired inclined ???

 

[kurup]

Well we must not forget that then US President Richard Nixon had sent US Seventh Fleet against India in support of East Pakistan during 1971 War. Whoever be the future enemies India should develop longer range missiles so that it can reach any part of this planet and act as a deterrent.

Exactly , I never said that we should not develop longer range SLBM.

US can be a potential adversary in the future but as I said for the near future , China remains our greatest concern.

 

[Twinblade]

There is no Agni-VI program today.
http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/strategic-forces/51202-dr-v-k-saraswats-interview-geopolitics-magazine.html#post734086

 

[sayareakd]

There is no Agni-VI program today.
http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/strategic-forces/51202-dr-v-k-saraswats-interview-geopolitics-magazine.html#post734086

major pressure from Uncleji, they dont want us to go higher then 5000 km. But i am not worried right now, as long as we can put K4 and K6 in sub with ranges close to 5k, that will do the trick with our Boomer class nuke sub.

 

[From Realm of D&T]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...mekzlqBgf8wbw19vW-vdDhg&bvm=bv.46751780,d.bmk

 

[From Realm of D&T]

Broadsword: Advanced Agni-6 missile with multiple warheads likely by 2017

 

[aerokan]

There is no Agni-VI program today.
http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/strategic-forces/51202-dr-v-k-saraswats-interview-geopolitics-magazine.html#post734086

Read again.. Did he say we don't have A6 programme?

 

[sayareakd]

Read again.. Did he say we don't have A6 programme?

he earlier said that their is programme, then he said their is no programme. Uncle dont want us to have more then 5k range, so lets first develop MIRV and Sub launch 5k with MIRV then attempt something for greater range.