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DRDO Statement: India today successfully test fired its most advanced long range missile system, the Agni-IV. The missile was launched from a road mobile launcher at 9AM from Wheelers’ Island off the coast of Odisha. The missile followed its trajectory, attained a height of about 900-km (??) and reached the pre-designated target in international waters of the Bay of Bengal. All mission objectives were fully met. All systems functioned perfectly till the end encountering re-entry temperatures of more than 3000⁰C.

This missile is one of its kind, proving many new technologies for the first time, and represents a quantum leap in terms of missile technology. The missile is lighter in weight and has two stages of solid propulsion and a payload with re-entry heat shield. The composite rocket motor which has been used for the first time performed flawlessly. The missile system is equipped with modern and compact avionics with redundancy to provide a high level of reliability. The indigenous Ring Laser Gyros based high accuracy INS (RINS) and micro-navigation system (MINGS) complementing each other in redundant mode have been successfully flown in guidance mode for the first time. The high performance onboard computer with distributed avionics architecture, high speed reliable communication bus and a full Digital Control System controlled and guided the Agni-IV to the target. The missile has reached the target with very high level of accuracy. Radars and electro-optical systems along the coast of Odisha tracked and monitored all parameters of the missile test. Two Indian Naval ships located near the target witnessed and recorded the final event.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony congratulated the DRDO team on its achievement. Avinash Chander, Distinguished Scientist & Chief Controller (Missiles & Strategic Systems) at DRDO and Programme Director, AGNI addressed his team after the launch, and called today's test the beginning of "a new era in modern Long Range Navigation Systems". He said, “this test has paved the way ahead for the success of AGNI-5 Mission, which will be launched shortly."

Agni-IV Project Director Ms Tessy Thomas and her team prepared and integrated the missile system and launched the Agni-IV successfully today. An ecstatic Ms Thomas said today that the DRDO had produced and proven many new state of the art technologies with the Agni-IV like composite rocket motors, very high accuracy Ring Laser Gyro based Inertial Navigation System, Micro Navigation System, Digital Controller System and very powerful onboard computer system. The Agni-IV can deliver strategic warheads, and will be produced in large numbers for delivery to India's nuclear command.

India successfully flight-tested its nuclear capable surface-to-surface 'Shourya' missile from Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, about 15 km from here, Saturday.

'Shourya' can carry a one tonne nuclear and conventional warhead over 700 kms and is powered by two-stage solid fuel.

The state-of-the-art missile is equipped with multiple advanced computing systems, very high accuracy navigation and guidance systems, defence sources here said.

"The trial of the missile, which took off from Launch Complex-III of ITR at 1430 hrs, was fully successful," ITR Director S P Dash said.

The missile was flight tested from a canister in a ground launch mode. "The launch was perfect like in text book and followed the path exactly to the predefined target," he said.

All radar, telemetry and electro optical stations along the east coast have tracked and monitored all the mission parameters, Dash said.

Ships located near the target have also tracked and witnessed the flight test and the missile reached the target within few meters accuracy, a defence official said.

The defence official said the sophisticated missile combines simplicity of operation with low maintenance. It can be easily handled, transported and stored in the canister for longer shelf life.

The high manoeuvrability of the missile makes it less vulnerable to available anti-missile defence systems.

"We have designed 'Shourya' missile in such a way that it can be launched from under water as easily as from land.

The gas-filled canister that houses the missile fits easily into a submarine. The underwater leg of the nuclear trial needs to be totally reliable and needs a state-of-the-art missile," said a scientist associated with the project.

DRDO chief controller Avinash Chander congratulated the scientists and employees of the organisation and other establishments for the successful test flight.

As a safety measure, prior to the test, Balasore district administration had temporarily evacuated 400 families residing within 2 km radius of the launch pad to nearby shelter camps early this morning, official sources said.

India is in the middle of a multi-billion dollar military spending spree that has quietly seen the country of Mahatma Gandhi and non-violent protest emerge as the world’s largest importer of arms. It is expected to retain that position for at least the next five years.

As the country works to expand its regional strategic influence and to counter what it considers existential threats from Pakistan and China, India now accounts for nine per cent of all global arms purchases. Its current defence budget of $36bn – an increase of around 11 per cent on the previous year – is more than double what it spends on education and health combined.

Over the past five years, more than 80 per cent of India’s defence purchases have come from Russia. But the splurge has seen defence contractors from around the world taking up long-term residency in Delhi’s five-star hotels, vying to fulfill demands from all three wings of the armed services. Recent purchases have included 155mm howitzers from the UK for the army, C-17 Globemaster heavy-lift planes from the US for the air force and submarines from France for the navy.

One of the most sought-after contracts concerns a $11bn order for 126 fighter aircraft. The Indian authorities have whittled a short-list down to just two contenders, the Typhoon produced by Eurofighter, a consortium made up of British, German, Italian and Spanish manufacturers, and the Rafale, produced by the French company Dassault.

Analysts say India’s spending spree is driven by several factors, including – with the exception of shipbuilding - an inadequate domestic defence production capacity. Strategically, it is driven by both defensive concerns, particularly in regard to what is considers Chinese growing ambitions in south Asia, and a desire to project power and influence regionally. Its spending on arms leapt after the Mumbai attacks of November 2008.

India’s top brass, remindful of the embarrassing drubbing it received in 1962 at the hands of the Chinese, is deeply suspicious of China’s relationship with Pakistan. It is also sensitive about Beijing’s ongoing claims over territory in both Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh and its road-building projects in those areas. Belatedly India has begun looking to improve its own infrastructure in these remote areas.

India’s defence budget only equals two per cent of GDP and in terms of total military spending Delhi is in 10th place, behind not only the US and China, but Britain, Germany and Saudi Arabia. Many within the military establishment believe India should increase its defence spending even more, to around three per cent of GDP.

Yet some analysts and industry insiders detect an uncertainty within the broader Indian establishment about what role it should play. While India might purport to take on a larger regional position, as evidenced by moves such as a recent defence agreement signed with the Maldives, there remains an apparent reluctance to take on greater responsibility.There are also strong voices within India who argue that in a country where hundreds of millions of people are living in poverty, there are more pressing spending priorities.

Prahar, a short-range surface-to-surface missile developed by Defense Research and Development Organization was successfully test-fired this morning from the Integrated Test Range in Balasore district in its maiden launch.

This single stage missile with a range of 150 km and fuelled by solid propellants took off at 8.15 am from a road mobile launcher in Launch Complex 3 of ITR in Chandipur of Balasore district. A DRDO scientist declared Thursday's test as successful.

Like Pinaka missile, a multiple-rocket system, several Prahar missile can be fired in one salvo. But for Thursday's test, only one missile was fired.

DRDO sources said Prahar (meaning to strike) with greater accuracy than the unguided missiles currently being used by the Indian Army will fill the gap between Pinaka, the multi-barrel rocket system, which has a range of 45 km and the Prithvi missile that can attack targets 250 km to 350 km away. Prahar can image, take out multiple targets and can be moved to any place. It can carry conventional warheads. It will be a road-mobile weapon—similar to the BrahMos supersonic multi-role cruise missile—with each motorized transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) carrying six canister, vertically-launched missiles armed with conventional warheads. A separate wheeled vehicle is being developed to act as a missile resupply station, carrying six canister missile rounds.

The missile fills the short range tactical battlefield missile role as required by the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force, to take out strategic and tactical targets. The mobile launch platform will carry six missile which can have different kind of warheads meant for different targets. This solid fueled missile can be launched within 2-3 minutes without any preparation providing significantly better reaction time than liquid fueled Prithvi ballistic missiles and act as a gap filler in the 150 km range, between the pinaka MBRL and smerch MBRL in one end and the Prithvi ballistic missiles on the other. Prahaar may replace Smerch systems in service with the Indian Army. Prahar was test-fired successfully on 21^st July 2011 from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur. During the test Prahar traveled an distance of 150 km in about 250 seconds^[ meeting all launch objectives and striking pre-designated target in the Bay of Bengal with a high degree of accuracy of less than 10 meters.

NEW DELHI (PTI): To smoke out enemy troops fortified inside concrete shelters, the Indian Air Force is looking to procure bunker-buster laser-guided bombs (LGBs) from global vendors.

The IAF plans to induct more than 100 bunker-buster LGBs that will be equipped on its fighter aircraft fleet to destroy strongly fortified enemy targets, sources told PTI here.

They said the IAF had issued a global Request for Proposal (RFP) for the purpose earlier this year, and defence majors including American Lockheed Martin and Raytheon along with an Israeli missile manufacturer have submitted their bids for the tender.

"We recently submitted bid in response to the RFP for LGBs," Lockheed Martin India head Roger Rose said, confirming the participation of his company in the race.

The two American companies are offering their respective versions of the Paveway LGBs manufactured by them separately.

With their capability to pierce hard surfaces, the bombs can also be used to destroy enemy's concrete runways and fortified locations.

LGBs are guided projectiles that use lasers to strike a designated target with greater accuracy than a gravity bomb and were used with high accuracy by the IAF against Pakistani Army posts during the Kargil war in 1999.

Around the same time, the US had supplied some Paveway bombs to India which could be launched from the Jaguar and Mirage 200 jets for accurately striking enemy targets.

The first flight-test of Prahaar (to strike), a new quick-reaction, short-range tactical missile, scheduled for Sunday, has been postponed and is likely to take place on July 21.

According to a news report by 'The Hindu', quoting DRDO sources, the launch was tentatively rescheduled to July 21 as some additional tests were done on the vehicle which delayed its movement to Balasore, Orissa.

The missile would be launched from Launch Complex-III of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, Balasore district.

Prahaar missile had been under development for the last four years. The 150-km range missile would be equipped with omni-directional warheads and could be used for hitting both tactical and strategic targets.

Prahaar is a road mobile system and could be deployed in a few minutes time, without much preparation. Each road mobile launcher can carry six missiles which could be used for taking out both tactical and strategic targets.