India’s latest Agni-P missile no great threat to China: experts

The nuclear-capable medium range weapon ‘still needs to prove’ its anti-ship capability after successful first firing

Missile is said to match China’s DF-21D ‘aircraft carrier killer’ and is an advanced variant of the Indian Agni class

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India’s Agni-P medium range ballistic missile is test fired from an island in the Bay of Bengal on Monday. Photo: Handout

Published: 6:00pm, 1 Jul 2021Updated: 12:05am, 2 Jul 2021

India has tested a new nuclear-capable missile that is said to match China’s DF-21D “aircraft carrier killer”, but it is unlikely to pose a big threat to China, according to analysts.

The Agni-P, a medium-range ballistic missile, was successfully fired on Monday from a test range on Abdul Kalam Island in the Bay of Bengal. India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation said it followed a “textbook trajectory, meeting all mission objectives with a high level of accuracy”.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Twitter the missile would “further strengthen India’s credible deterrence capabilities”.

He said the missile – an advanced variant of India’s Agni class – incorporated technologies including fully upgraded composites, propulsion systems, innovative guidance and control mechanisms and state-of-the-art navigation systems.

The Agni-P has a range of between 1,000 and 2,000km (621-1,242 miles) and is less than half the size of the Agni-3 intermediate-range ballistic missile. Its canister packing, which means it can be transported on trucks or by rail, also greatly increases its mobility and rapid responsiveness.

Given the tensions between India and its neighbours Pakistan and China, previous missiles in the Agni series have often had these two countries as their imagined targets. The Agni-5, India’s nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of up to 8,000km (4,970 miles), already covers all of China.