Bangalore: India is capable of developing missiles that can hit targets located at more than 8,000 km away, a top official today said.
“We will develop it as and when we see a need to develop a missile longer in range than Agni-V. We have the capability to do it,” scientific advisor to the defence minister, VK Saraswat told reporters in Bangalore.
DG, DRDO, Vijay Kumar Saraswat with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Image courtesy PIB
Since DRDO had already crossed the ‘threshold’ of making a system with longer capability and developing its sub-systems, making a longer version of Agni-V would be easier, Saraswat, also the director general of Defence Research Organisation, said.
Last month, India test-fired nuclear-capable Agni-V Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile that brought China within its reach with a strike range of over 5,000 km.
Saraswat said Agni-V can double up as a satellite launcher for hurling small-sized spacecraft into the space.
Agni-V had major propulsion blocks and a kind of aviation technology which makes it a suitable launch vehicle for sending small satellites into space, he added.
DRDO had started work on it, he said but refused to give a timeframe.
PTI
