Well, just India test firing a missle. It the missle could hit China, it should be able to hit Tehran. Oh well. I guess we are selective with who we have problems test firing missles. I think I heard that the NK missles were aimed toward Hawaii.
Balasore (Orissa) - India Sunday successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable Agni-III intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) that is capable of reaching targets as far as China, defence officials said.
The missile, for which preparations were on for the past one month, was test-fired at about 11.05 a.m. from a mobile launcher at Wheeler Island in the coastal district of Bhadrak, some 200 km from Bhubaneswar.
The Agni-III, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is designed to carry a nuclear warhead and can reach targets as far as Beijing and Shanghai. It is India's longest-range missile.
While Indian officials describe Agni-III as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), China's official Xinhua news agency described it as an intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM).
Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, top officials of the DRDO, including Avinash Chandra, director of the Agni-III programme, and DRDO chief M. Natarajan were among those who witnessed the test firing, military officials said. The test firing was successful, they added.
The Agni-III, which has a range between 3,500-5,000 km, features two solid-fuelled stages and has an overall diameter of 1.8 metres.
It can be deployed from rail or road mobile launch vehicles. It is understood to be equipped with inertial guidance systems with improved optical or radar terminal phase correlation systems that gives it a high degree of accuracy.
The Agni-I, with a range of 700-800 km, and Agni-II, with a 2,000-km range, have already been inducted in the Indian Army as part of the country's minimum deterrent programme.
Preparations for the Agni-III launch were underway for at least a month. President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who has mentored India's missile programme, had visited the test site earlier this week.
Kalam, who was on a three-day visit to the state, had visited Wheeler Island, a DRDO facility off the Orissa coast, where he was given a detailed briefing on the Agni-III launch, sources said.
When he was scientific advisor to the defence minister and DRDO head, Kalam had in 1992 selected Wheeler Island for testing the Agni series of missiles.
There have been indications since 2004 that Agni-III, a three-stage missile that adds a third stage to the first and second stages of Agni-II, was ready for launch.
Media reports in May said the Agni-III test flight had been put off under pressure from Washington, which felt this would send all the wrong signals at a time when the US Congress as also the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) were considering the proposed India-US civilian nuclear deal.
The defence minister on May 15 had immediately rubbished the suggestion, saying: 'We have no pressure on us. We have decided on a self-imposed restraint.'
Last month, Indian officials had dismissed a media report that claimed the US had given its nod for test firing Agni-III, saying this was only the interpretation of the Washington think tank Stratfor.
'The think tank has interpreted a statement by Gen. Peter Pace (chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff) made here (in New Delhi) to imply that the
US had given its go ahead for the test. India has made it amply clear that we have imposed a voluntary ban on testing and that is where the matter stands,' a defence ministry official said.
Pace, while replying to a question on Agni-III at a press conference in New Delhi, had said: 'India is a sovereign nation and can decide for itself what weapons it needs. Missile tests do not necessarily destabilise the region.'
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Comments: 5
Magi
If this a Chinese plot, kudos to them, but from a western viewpoint, I don't see how this could be. One would think it should be painfully obvious to the Chinese that having the United states gearing up for a war, having Europe gearing up for war even if it does not involve the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, is a bad thing for their export driven economy.
We think we know India's intentions better than North Korea. North Korea is technically still at war with us. If China wanted to take any country smaller than russia, they probably could. But India has alot of people.
Pakistan was part of India until the british reduced the scope of the empire. Pakistan is a muslim country, currently involved in friendly relations with the US. Pakistan has the bomb in addition to India. India hasn't made many moves toward attacking Pakistan that I'm aware of, but there were some tense times a while back.
from wikipedia.
Agni III an intermediate-range ballistic missile currently being developed by India as the successor to Agni-II.[1] Designed by the Indian government's Defence Research and Development Organisation, Agni III is intended to be a two-stage ballistic missile that is capable of nuclear weapons delivery with a 5500 km range and a 1500 kg payload. Agni III is expected to be India's nuclear deterrent against any attack by the People's Republic of China and would contribute to India's "Minimum Credible Deterrence" nuclear doctrine of "no first use" and nuclear counterstrike capability.
On July 9, 2006 the Agni III was test fired from the coast of Orissa. The missile failed to reach its target and instead crashed into the Bay of Bengal. Indian Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee acknowledged that the test was a failure, and the missile was only air-born for 5 minutes instead of the expected 15 minutes.[2]