On the quite morning of
Thursday, April 19, 2012, as the clock was ticking to 8:07, scientists
assembled around the massive 50-tonne, 17.5-meter high Agni-V that stood majestically
with a girth of 2 meters on the launch pad at the Wheeler Island, Odisha, started their ‘Vedic’
chanting… 5…4…3…2… of course, in a calm
and measured voice, as the surroundings encased in a surreal tension… and to
their great relief, as the countdown came to 1 …now… a giant ball of fire leapt
out as the missile’s first stage was ignited … and Agni-V took off the launch
pad smoothly.
As the missile was
rising, scientists checked the health of its systems, and the viewers watched
them go over their routine in a surreal tension. As scheduled, dot on the 90th
second after the lift-off, the first stage, having burnt out, separated, while
the rest were travelling at the speed at which they should be. Then as the
second stage too, having burnt out, separated from the main frame fully burnt,
a feeling of “all is well” seeped into the atmosphere, putting everyone at ease
with themselves—heart rate fallen to normal.
Within minutes, the
missile cruised into space and streaked southwards for 2000 km, then crossing
equator journeyed for another 3000 km, after which, reentering the atmosphere
over the Tropic of Capricorn, splashed down into the Indian Ocean between the
southern tip of Africa and Australia. And all this took just 20 minutes.
“Indian naval vessels
tracked the missile all along its course, including at the terminal stage. The
accuracy of the missile was exactly as expected”, said the beaming DRDO’s
spokesperson. And for Dr. Sarswat, the man who worked his whole life on DRDO’s
ballistic missile programme, this was a historic moment. As the sweet news of
success was aired across the nation, leaders started congratulating the
jubilant scientists on their great achievement.
AK Antony, Defence Minister,
congratulated the team of scientists on “the immaculate success” of the Agni-V.
He also hailed the efforts of the “numerous unsung scientists of DRDO who have
worked relentlessly years together to bring the nation to this threshold”—of
placing the Chinese cities on the east coast within the reach of Indian
missiles, which, does add strength to the Indian nuclear deterrence.
That’s for the good
side of the news—our scientists and public sector units can deliver the goods
despite the government control. But as Dr. VK Sarswat, Scientific Adviser to
the Defense Minister, revealed about his
organization’s plans to make Agni-V carry multiple independently targeted
warheads, and also generate anti-satellite capability in the coming years, its
political implications stared challengingly, if not threateningly, at the
political leadership of the nation. China’s media has already dubbed it as a “political
missile”.
However, as former minister
for external affairs MC Chagla once observed, however right India might be in
its stance, unless it speaks from a position of strength, it will not be heard;
this success of Agni-V does give India the strength and courage which it needs
to make the world see the sense in its argument.
No doubt, our
scientists have placed in the nation’s hand the much-needed reliable standoff
deterrence. But it also casts tremendous responsibility on the nation’s
leadership in making the rest of the world understand that its proven ability
at equipping itself with mighty lethal weaponry is only to create a deterring
effect but not for any offence.
At the same time, it must go
ahead with perfecting Agni-V and its weaponisation process without
any glitch and induct it into the armed forces at the earliest without cowing
down to international pressures, if any.
Now it is for the leaders to act!
GRKMurty
Images Courtesy:
bharatdefencekavach.com, deccanchronicle.com
Keywords: DRDO, Agni-5 ,
Indian missile system, Indian nuclear deterrence, Dr. Sarswat
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