Agni
Agni-III
The third member of the family, Agni-III, remains the future agenda. It will be rail-mobile and may have a still higher range. Although the Agni-II does reach deep into China it still does not threaten its major cities. As of early 1999 India was reportedly developing a longer-range Agni-III with a 3,500-km reach, capable of engaging targets deeper inside China. Other reports sugges that India is contemplating the development of the 5000 km range variant of the Agni, with a solid-fueled second stage. Although India has claimed that this missile will be used only to carry a conventional warhead, the cost of the system would be difficult to justify unless used as a nuclear delivery vehicle.
India would be test firing Agni-III, its nuclear-capable missile with the longest-range (over 3,000 km), by the end of 2005. Speaking at the June 2005 awards ceremony of DRDO Dr M Natarajan, DRDO Chief, said that development of Agni-III was on schedule and it would fly by the end of the year. Test firing of Agni-III, the surface-based, solid and liquid propellant ballistic missile, has been rescheduled twice. The Agni-I (700-800 km) and Agni-II (over 2,000 km) missiles are being inducted into the Army.
