List of India’s most lethal missiles

BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile: An amalgamation of the names of Brahmaputra river and Moskva rivers, BrahMos missiles are designed, developed, and produced by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture company set up by DRDO and Mashinostroyenia of Russia. The BrahMos is a medium-range supersonic missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land-based platforms. It is considered to be the fastest supersonic missile in the world that can achieve a speed 2.8 times the speed of sound. Considered as the fastest supersonic missile in the world, the land-attack version of BrahMos has the capability of cruising at 2.8 Mach speed and with the upgraded capability, the missile can hit targets at a range of up to 400 kilometers with precision. Advanced versions of the range above 1,000 kilometers and speed up to 5 Mach are said to be under development.

Agni 5: Agni 5 is India’s only Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), and has a 5,000 km plus range, with the view that its range can be easily extended to at least 8,000 km. The missile is a three-stage solid-fueled missile and is configured to carry up to 10 Multiple Independently-targetable Reentry Vehicles (MIRVs). The missile is 17.5-20 m long, 2-2.2 m wide with a launch weight of 49,000-55,000 kg. The missile is carried by a road-mobile truck, allowing the mobilization of missile across the country easily. The missile has claimed to be tested more than 7 times before moving to user trials with the Army.

Agni P Ballistic Missile: DRDO successfully flight tested a New Generation Nuclear-Capable Ballistic Missile Agni P on June 28, 2021. Agni P is a new generation advanced variant of the Agni class of missiles. It is a canisterised missile with range capability between 1,000 and 2,000 kms.

Agni-IV: Inducted in service since 2013, Agni-IV is an Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) with a range of between 3,500-4,000 km and a warhead capacity of 800 kg which will be a nuclear fission bomb of 20 or 45 KT. The missile is 20 m long, along with a two-stage solid propellant missile with a launch weight of 17,000 kg.

Shaurya: Shaurya is a submarine-launched medium-range ballistic missile that is 12 m long, 0.8 m wide, comprises a two-stage solid propellant, and has a range of 3,000-3,500 km.

Agni-III: Agni-III comprises a two-stage solid propellant engine, and has a strike range of 3,000 km. The missile is 16.7 m long, 1.85 m wide, launch weight 48,000 kg and carries a single 2,000 kg warhead. Agni-III has multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV), which can annihilate several targets simultaneously.

Agni-II: Serving the nation since 2004, the medium-range Agni-II ballistic missile is 20 m long, 2.3 m wide and has a launch weight of 16,000 kg. Agni-II is a road/rail-mobile launch missile that can has an operational range between 2,000–3,500 km.

Nirbhay: It is India’s first indigenously produced cruise missile that can be fired from land and submarine. The missile is 6.0 m long, 0.5 m wide with a launch weight of 1,500-1,600 kg. It can be used to carry both conventional and nuclear warheads and can strike a target upto 1,000 km.

Prahaar: The indigenous developed Prahaar is another short-range, solid propellant, road-mobile ballistic missile. The missile can strike enemy’s armored formations, bunkers, command and control centers. The road-mobile missile has a 150 km range and has a launch weight of 1,280 kg.

(Source: AIR)

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