“Agni-5 will take us to a level of 5,000-kilometer-plus . . . missile systems, which meets all our threat requirements,” says V.K. Saraswat, chief of India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO).
However, Saraswat adds, “Though India has the capability of developing long-range missiles, we are not developing any intercontinental ballistic missiles. Our threat perception today doesn’t require developing any ICBMs.”
Nonetheless, “whether it is a 5000-kilometer-range missile or a 10,000-kilometer range one, it requires the same technology,” Saraswat said today. “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 remain the same.”