Mumbai, January 19: India's most formidable missile- Agni-V, having a range of over 5,000 km, is in its testing phase this year before it is inducted into the Agni missile regiment. With this, India will be a step closer to the list of countries with intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). As per reports by TOI, the canister-launch version is giving the armed forces the much-needed operational flexibility to transport and fire the missile from anywhere they want without any hassle.

The Agni-V missile aims toĀ cover all of Asia and China within its nuclear strike capability. Ā Once the testing is completed, India will be in the league among US, UK, Russia, China and France who currently possess theĀ capability.

About Agni-V:

  1. The Agni-V, a three-stage solid fuelled missile with composite motor casing in the second and third stage was made in January 3003.

  2. The Agni-V missile flies 24 times the speed of sound

  3. It is an intercontinental ballistic missile developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of India.

  4. Agni V is part of Agni series of missiles, one of the missile systems under the original Integrated Guided Missile Development Program.

  5. The missile has a strike range of over 5000-kms which covers China, Asia and also parts of Europe and Africa

To recall, the Agni-V missile was successfullyĀ test-fired byĀ DRDOĀ fromĀ Wheeler IslandĀ off the coast ofĀ Orissa on April 19,Ā 2012.Ā Ā On September 15, 2013 India conducted a second test flight of Agni-V from the Wheeler Island off Odisha coast.Ā  On 31 January 2015, India conducted a third successful test flight of the Agni-V from theĀ Wheeler IslandĀ facility.Ā  On 26 December 2016, a fourth test of the missile was successfully conducted from complex 4 ofĀ Wheeler Island, Odisha.Ā Ā On 18 January 2018, a fifth test of the missile was successfully conductedĀ Wheeler IslandĀ facility, Odisha.

Currently,Ā  the SFC already has regiments of Prithvi-II (350-km), Agni-I (700-km), Agni-II (2,000-km) & Agni-III (3,000-km) missiles to deter any threat. Ā The Agni-V has been designed to carry a 1.5-tonne nuclear warhead. As per reports, Agni-V has been tested four times in "developmental or experimental trials" earlier.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 19, 2018 01:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).