India tests Agni-V missile with range as far as Beijing BHUBANESWAR | Sun Sep 15, 2013 4:05pm IST
(Reuters) - India successfully test-fired for a second time a nuclear-capable missile on Sunday that can reach Beijing and much of Europe, bringing a step closer production of a weapon designed to strengthen its nuclear deterrent.
"The test was successful," said Ravi Kumar Gupta, spokesman for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). "It hit the target in a predefined trajectory. It met all the mission objectives"
India is trying to keep up with China's growing military strength and wants to have a viable deterrent against its larger nuclear-armed neighbour.
The two countries have generally warm relations, but they fought a brief Himalayan war in 1962 and a build up of conventional defences along their disputed border is a source of tension.
The Agni-V is the most advanced version of the indigenously built Agni, or Fire, series, part of a programme that started in the 1960s. Earlier versions could reach old rival Pakistan and western China.
The Agni-V missile was first tested in April 2012. It is mostly domestically built and has a range of about 5,000 km (3,100 miles). Only the U.N. Security Council permanent members - China, France, Russia the United States and Britain - along with Israel, are believed to have such long-range weapons.
Gupta said India was now ready to start a process of production and subsequent induction of the missile. 0042名無しのひみつ2021/10/30(土) 16:16:58.28ID:5LzCiJfV 以下の記事によると、技術的には夜間発射を初めて行った、という位だな。
A decision on the replacement of Trident was made on the 4 December 2006. Then-Prime Minister Tony Blair told MPs it would be "unwise and dangerous" for the UK to give up its nuclear weapons. He outlined plans to spend up to £20 billion on a new generation of submarines for Trident missiles. He said submarine numbers may be cut from four to three, while the number of nuclear warheads would be cut by 20 percent to 160. Blair said although the Cold War had ended, the UK needed nuclear weapons, as no-one could be sure another nuclear threat would not emerge in the future.