Source: PIB
Subject: Security
Context: India successfully test-fired the Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) Agni-3 from the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur, Odisha validating its operational readiness.
About Agni-3 Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile:
What it is?
- Agni-3 is an Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) capable of delivering strategic payloads to targets up to 3,000 km. It forms a crucial leg of India’s land-based nuclear deterrent under the Agni missile series.
Developed by
- Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
- Operationally deployed under the Strategic Forces Command
Aim
- To ensure credible minimum deterrence against long-range adversarial threats.
- To provide India with a reliable second-strike capability.
- To strengthen strategic depth beyond short- and medium-range missile systems.
Key features
- Range: ~3,000 km.
- Type: Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile.
- Launch platform: Road-mobile launcher (canisterised variants tested earlier).
- Payload capability: Conventional or nuclear warhead.
- Guidance: Advanced inertial navigation with high accuracy.
- Propulsion: Two-stage solid-fuel missile.
- Operational validation: All technical and operational parameters successfully validated in the 2026 test.
Significance
- Strategic deterrence: Enhances India’s ability to deter threats across extended regional theatres.
- Force readiness: Confirms reliability of India’s nuclear delivery systems under operational command.
- Missile spectrum coverage: Complements Agni-1, Agni-2, Agni-4 and Agni-5, covering the 700–5,000 km range band.
