India to test nuclear-capable missile with 3,100-mile range by next year, says top scientist

India to test missile with 3,100-mile range

NEW DELHI — India will test a new nuclear-capable missile with a range of more than 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) in a year’s time, the country’s top military scientist said Wednesday.

India’s current longest-range missile is the Agni-III missile with a range of 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles), which its military test-fired on Sunday. That missile is already capable of reaching targets not only across historic rival, Pakistan, but also major cities in China and the Middle East.

V.K. Saraswat, India’s chief military scientist, said the new missile, Agni-V, would be a land-based system with a range of over 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles).

“Agni-V is out of the drawing board. We are aiming for a flight trial in a year’s time,” Saraswat told reporters.

Agni means ‘fire’ in the Sanskrit and Hindi languages. Both versions of the Agni would be able to carry 1.5-ton conventional or nuclear warheads.

The plan for a longer range missile underscores India’s ambition to assert itself as a global power.

Nuclear rival Pakistan longest-range missile which has been tested in a field exercise, Shaheen II, has a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles).

Saraswat said the Agni-III was ready to be inducted by the army. He said it was 100 percent Indian technology and most parts had been manufactured by domestic industries.

India’s homegrown missile arsenal also includes the short-range Prithvi ballistic missile, the medium-range Akash, the anti-tank Nag and the supersonic Brahmos missile, developed jointly with Russia.

Neighbors India and Pakistan have fought three wars since they gained independence from Britain in 1947.

The two sides began talks aimed at resolving their differences over the Himalayan region of Kashmir and other disputes in 2004. India put the peace process on hold soon after terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008, which India blamed on the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

India recently offered to restart peace talks, though Pakistan has yet to formally accept.