{"id":34556,"date":"2022-11-24T04:28:15","date_gmt":"2022-11-23T22:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=34556"},"modified":"2025-04-20T14:56:06","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T09:26:06","slug":"india-test-fires-agni-3-nuclear-capable-ballistic-missile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/india-test-fires-agni-3-nuclear-capable-ballistic-missile\/","title":{"rendered":"India Test Fires Agni-3 Nuclear Capable Ballistic Missile"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>About the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>About the Agni Missiles<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>About the Strategic Forces Command (SFC)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why In News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>India recently carried out a successful launch of Agni-3 Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile from A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha.<\/li>\n<li>It was launched as part of routine user training launches carried out under the aegis of the Strategic Forces Command.<\/li>\n<li>India has also completed its\u00a0<strong>nuclear triad and operationalised its second-strike capability<\/strong>, with nuclear ballistic missile submarine INS Arihant undertaking deterrence patrols.\n<ul>\n<li>A nuclear triad is a three-pronged military structure that consists of land-launched nuclear missiles, nuclear-submarines and aircraft with nuclear missiles.<\/li>\n<li>A second-strike capability assures an ability to respond to a nuclear attack with powerful nuclear retaliation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP): What\u2019s in today\u2019s article:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>About IGMDP:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It was a programme for the<strong>\u00a0R&amp;D of the comprehensive range of missiles in India<\/strong>, started in\u00a0<strong>1982\u201383<\/strong>\u00a0under the leadership of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.<\/li>\n<li>It was a Ministry of Defence programme managed by the\u00a0<strong>Defence Research and Development Organisation<\/strong>\u00a0(DRDO) and\u00a0<strong>Ordnance Factories Board.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>As part of this program, the Interim Test Range (renamed as A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Island in 2016) at Balasore in Odisha was also developed for missile testing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Types of missiles under the programme:\u00a0<\/strong>APJ Abdul Kalam started multiple projects simultaneously to develop the following types of Indian Guided Missiles &#8211;\n<ul>\n<li>Short Range Surface to Surface Missile (SSM) \u2018Prithvi\u2019<\/li>\n<li>Long Range Surface to Surface Missile (SSM)\u00a0<strong>\u2018Agni\u2019<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (SAM) \u2018Akash\u2019<\/li>\n<li>Short Range Surface to Air Missile (SAM) \u2018Trishul\u2019<\/li>\n<li>Anti-tank Guided Missile (ATGM) \u2018Nag\u2019<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>About the Agni Missiles:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/media\/editor_images\/2022\/11\/24\/12\/37\/52\/637f1848df431805c7508711_OI.PNG\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It was initially conceived in the IGMDP as\u00a0<strong>a technology demonstrator project<\/strong>\u00a0in the form of a re-entry vehicle, and was later upgraded to a ballistic missile with different ranges.\n<ul>\n<li>A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target.<\/li>\n<li>These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods and most of the flight is unpowered.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The Agni missile is a family of\u00a0<strong>medium to intercontinental range ballistic missiles<\/strong>, named after one of the five elements of nature.<\/li>\n<li>Agni missiles are\u00a0<u>long range, nuclear weapons capable, surface to surface ballistic missiles<\/u>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The first missile<\/strong>\u00a0of the series, Agni-I was developed\u00a0<u>under the lGMDP<\/u>\u00a0and tested in 1989.<\/li>\n<li>After its success, the Agni missile program was\u00a0<strong>separated\u00a0<\/strong>from the IGMDP upon realizing its strategic importance.<\/li>\n<li>The Agni series of missiles constitute the\u00a0<strong>backbone of India\u2019s nuclear weapons delivery<\/strong>\u00a0which also includes the Prithvi short range ballistic missiles and fighter aircraft.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>About the Strategic Forces Command (SFC):<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>S<\/strong>ometimes called Strategic Nuclear Command, SFC (created in 2003) forms part of India&#8217;s\u00a0<strong>Nuclear Command Authority<\/strong>\u00a0(NCA).\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The NCA<\/strong>\u00a0is the authority responsible for command, control and operational decisions regarding India&#8217;s nuclear weapons programme.<\/li>\n<li>It comprises a Political Council headed by the\u00a0<strong>Prime Minister of India<\/strong>\u00a0and an Executive Council headed by the\u00a0<strong>National Security Advisor.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>SFC is responsible for the management and administration of the country&#8217;s\u00a0<strong>tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Agni-3 is an Indian intermediate-range ballistic missile inducted into service in 2011.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":34557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-34556","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}