India tests missile that can carry multiple warheads

NEW DELHI - India on Monday conducted the first test flight of a missile system that can carry multiple warheads.

Agni-5 with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) technology was test fired from an island in Odisha state.

"Various telemetry and radar stations tracked and monitored multiple re-entry vehicles. The mission accomplished the designed parameters," the Ministry of Defence said.

India has developed a range of advanced missiles as part of its decades-long missile development programme.

It successfully tested Agni-5, a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface missile with a range of 5,000 km, in October 2021.

MIRVs were first developed in the early 1960s to enable a missile to deliver multiple nuclear warheads to different targets, according to the United States-based Centre for Arms Control and Non Proliferation.

The countries using MIRV missiles are the US, Britain, France, China and Russia, while Pakistan tested a medium-range ballistic missile with MIRV technology in 2017. - BERNAMA