By IANS,
New Delhi : India Tuesday said it was not developing an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) that have the capability to strike targets about 7,500 km away.
However, it will conduct the first developmental flight test of its 5,000-km range Agni-V missile this December, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief Dr. V.K. Saraswat told reporters on the sidelines of the golden jubilee celebrations of Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), a premier DRDO lab, here.
“We are not developing any ICBM. Our threat perception today is not requiring development of any ICBM,” he said, replying to a query if DRDO was planning one.
“The first development flight of Agni-V will be in the month of December this year. Agni-V will take us to a level of 5,000-km plus class of missile systems which meets all our threat requirements,” Saraswat, who is also the scientific adviser to the defence minister, said.
He, however, added that the country had the capability to develop longer range missiles.
“Whether it is a 5,000-km range missile or a 10,000-km range one, it requires the same technology. Only the magnitude of the rocket motor, the size of the rocket motor, or the diameter of the missile changes. But the science and technology remains the same,” he said.