The Agni-5 missile with MIRV tech is capable of deploying multiple warheads.

New Delhi:

India has joined the select group of nations with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle or MIRV technology with the first flight test of Mission Divyastra. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today congratulated the scientists of Defence Research and Development Organisation for the first flight test of a made-in-India Agni-5 missile, capable of deploying multiple warheads.

“Proud of our DRDO scientists for Mission Divyastra, the first flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology,” PM Modi posted on ‘X’.

Proud of our DRDO scientists for Mission Divyastra, the first flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 11, 2024

The project director is a woman and it has a significant contribution from women, sources told NDTV. The weapon system is equipped with indigenous avionics systems and high-accuracy sensor packages which ensured that the re-entry vehicles reached the target points within the desired accuracy, they said.

What Are MIRVs?

Multiple Independently-targetable Reentry Vehicles permit a missile to deploy multiple nuclear warheads to different targets in contrast to a traditional missile that carries one warhead. The warheads on these missiles can be released at different speeds and directions. Some MIRVed missiles can hit targets as far as 1,500 kilometres apart.

Originally developed in the early 1960s, MIRV technology requires the combination of large missiles, small warheads, accurate guidance, and a complex mechanism for releasing warheads sequentially during flight.

The MIRVed missiles that are land-based are considered destabilising because these are much more significant targets than traditional missiles as several warheads can be taken out at once by an attacker.

Countries With MIRV Technology

The US was the first country to develop this technology. It deployed a MIRVed Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) in 1970 and a MIRVed Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) in 1971. The Soviet Union followed suit and developed their MIRV-enabled ICBM and SLBM technology by the end of the 1970s.

Presently, the US, UK and France have MIRVed SLBMs, China has MIRVed ICBMs while Russia uses both MIRVed ICBMs and SLBMs.

As per reports, Pakistan is also experimenting with MIRV technology.