Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Just days after Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chairman Samir V Kamath said that the R&D agency was ready to conduct the test of India’s first 10,000km-plus-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) ‘Agni-6’ and was only waiting for the govt’s permission, BJP on Wednesday dropped a big hint for the test, saying, “Agni-6 is ready to make history”.Coincidentally, India has issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) designating a vast stretch of the Bay of Bengal as a danger zone for a long-range missile test.In a post on its official account on X on Wednesday, BJP said, “Agni-6: India marching towards becoming a superpower! With a strike range of 10,000+ km and MIRV technology, Agni-6 is ready to make history. This missile will make India’s security impregnable and place us in the league of the world’s most powerful nations. Powerful India, Secure India!”BJP has also uploaded a video where it explained that till now, only “five countries have the power of intercontinental ballistic missiles: America, Russia, China, France and Britain. Now, India is going to strengthen its position in the same league. Agni-6 is India’s next-generation missile….With the strike power of long distance, India’s reach is not only going to be regional but also going to be more global.The post further said, “And this is where the next big change comes. Think about it. One missile, multiple targets. That is, MIRV technology. Which can do multiple things at once. This is the power that was only with countries like America, Russia and China. But now, India is also standing at the same level.”Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology allows a single ballistic missile to deliver multiple nuclear warheads to different, distinct targets, enhancing strike capability and overcoming missile defences.With India about to enter the elite club of nations with ICBM capability, BJP post said, “This is the change that is taking India to a new era. Where guided missile power is not only power but also a scale of global power.”Just ahead of this development, India had recently launched the second flight-test of a Long Range Anti-Ship Hypersonic Missile (LR-AShM) with a strike of 1500km with a Mach10 speed. Till now, no country in the world has attained the full capability to intercept a hypersonic missile with 10 Mach speed.
