http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140218/main2.htm
Nod to one
rank-one pension
Tribune News
Service
New Delhi,
February 17
In election mode,
the Congress-led UPA Government today formally announced the much-awaited one
rank-one pension (OROP) scheme for retired soldiers, benefiting some 46 lakh
families of retired and serving servicemen in the Army, the Navy and the Indian
Air Force.
Sources said the
decision was based on ground realities. BJP’s prime ministerial nominee Narendra
Modi has been critical of the delay in announcing one rank-one pension scheme.
It would have figured prominently in the BJP manifesto. “A lot of thinking has
gone into this and it was decided that it was worth taking the step”, a
functionary explained.
Union Finance
Minister P Chidambaram, while presenting the interim budget for the year
2014-15, today said: “The government has accepted the principle of one rank-one
pension for the defence forces. The decision will be implemented prospectively
from the financial year 2014-15. Officials said the formula had been accepted
and the pensions would be revised accordingly. The hike would be anything
between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 per month.
The formula for
OROP is: “Uniform pension to be paid to the defence forces personnel retiring
at the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of
retirement, and that any future enhancement in the rates of pension be
automatically passed on to the past pensioners.”
At present, there
are two groups of the retirees -- the ones who retired before January 1, 2006
and the ones who retired after this date. Pensions vary and in some cases
senior officers get lesser pensions than their juniors. A Colonel, who retired
before the January 1, 2006 gets a pension of Rs 26, 050 while a Colonel
retiring in 2014 gets Rs 34,000.
Chidambaram added,
“The requirement for 2014-15 is estimated at Rs 500 crore and I propose to
transfer a sum of Rs 500 crore to the Defence Pension Account in the current
financial year itself.”
This could mean
that retired soldiers and the widows could get increased pensions even before
the forthcoming polls. There are some 24 lakh retired soldiers, 6 lakh widows
of former soldiers and a serving force of about 16 lakh personnel.
Top MoD officials
explained, “This is based on the forecast made by the ministry and without any
estimates. Hence, Rs 500 crore is a provisional allocation. The contours of the
scheme will be worked out over the next few weeks and more money will be
given”.
The sum announced
in the Budget today falls short of the projected Rs 1,300 crore by the Ministry
of Finance to the Rajya Sabha Committee on Petitions.
Maj General Satbir
Singh (retd), Vice-Chairman of the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement, said, “If the
government has accepted the formula of OROP, we welcome the step. However, it
must explain Budget allocation.”
The formula
Uniform pension to be paid to defence
personnel retiring at the same rank with the same length of service,
irrespective of their date of retirement. Any future enhancement in pension to
be automatically passed on to the past pensioners
The anomaly
At present, there are two groups of
retirees — those who retired before January 1, 2006 and others who retired
thereafter
Pensions vary. In some cases senior
officers get lesser pension than their juniors
The pension of a Colonel, who retired
before January 1, 2006 is Rs 26,050
A Colonel, who retired in 2014, draws a
pension of Rs 34,000
The decision will be implemented
prospectively from 2014-15
Contours of the
scheme will be worked out over the next few weeks. Rs 500 crore is provisional
allocation. The exact figure will be known in due course.
A Ministry of
Defence official
It is good news. I
heartily welcome the decision.
Bhupinder Singh
Hooda, Haryana CM
It was debt the
nation owes to those who served the country. Step was long overdue.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140218/nation.htm#3
Defence budget up
by 10%
Raised to Rs
2,24,000 crore, but has fallen in GDP terms to 1.74%
Tribune News
Service
New Delhi,
February 17
The Union
Government announced a hike of 10 per cent in its defence budget for fiscal
2014-2015 commencing on April 1. Of this, Rs 89,588 crore will be for capital
that is for new, projects, equipment and acquisitions.
Union Finance
Minister P Chidambaram, while presenting the interim budget today, said the
defence budget will be Rs 2,24,000 crore for the next fiscal, 10 per cent more
than this fiscal’s Rs 2.03,672 crore and will account for 12.70 per cent of the
total government spending. The present fiscal ends on March 31, 2014.
Lack of money in
the coffers gets reflected in the capital allocation. In the ongoing fiscal,
the original allocation was Rs 86,740 crore under the capital head. This was
cut by Rs 7868 crore mid-year and the money was transferred to meet day-to-day
expenses such as fuel and salaries.
This year’s
increase in capital is only a growth of 3.28 per cent over the original
allocation, while the Ministry of Defence has had to raise the day-to-day
running costs by 14.95 per cent.
In the Rs 89,588
crore capital outlay, the Finance Minister has focused on Naval fleet that has
been given Rs 12,856 crore, Army heavy vehicles Rs 2128 crore, IAF aircraft Rs
16,271 crore , another Rs 16,155 crore for ‘other equipment’ of the Army and Rs
15,532 crore for the IAF.
This is largely
for guns and ammunition and new air defence systems. It also reflects the focus
of the forces in the forthcoming year.
Part of the hike
will be off-set by the change in rupee-dollar exchange rates. With several of
the acquisitions being through the import route the Dollar, which now trades at
Rs 61 in exchange, will have an effect. Last year, when the budget was
announced, the dollar stood at Rs 54.90 - a difference of Rs 6 in one year.
Next year’s budget in dollar terms will be US $ 36.4 billion.
New Delhi’s surge
of 10 per cent still leaves it way behind China’s budget announced in March
2013 at $112.6 billion. China is yet to announce its next year’s budget. Japan
announced its 2014 defence budget in December 2013 and pegged it at $45.86
billion.
It falls short of
the percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). It will be 1.74 per cent of the
GDP. This year, the share was 1.79 per cent and for the previous fiscal that
ended March 31, 2013 the share of defence spending in the GDP was 1.9 per cent.
Successive standing parliamentary committees on defence had recommended the
allocation to be raised by at least 3-3.5 per cent of the GDP to modernise the
forces.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140218/nation.htm#7
Spying: Court puts Navy official on trial
New Delhi,
February 17
An Indian Navy
official has been put on trial by a Delhi court for allegedly conspiring with
Pakistani agencies and passing them sensitive documents regarding establishment
of armed forces. The court framed charges against Chand Kumar Prasad under
provisions of the IPC for conspiring and the Official Secret Act (OSA) and
fixed March 15 for recording prosecution evidence in the case.
The provisions of
the OSA for which Prasad, who was arrested from New Delhi Railway Station in
2010, has been put on trial entails a maximum of 14-year jail . The court said
perusal of the chargesheet showed that the charge of spying was made out
against him.
The court rejected
the contention of Prasad that he was the sole accused in the case, so he cannot
be charged with criminal conspiracy. — PTI
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140218/edit.htm#6
Pakistan: The
turmoil within
The government's
counter-insurgency policy lacks cohesion
Gurmeet Kanwal
Since his
re-election in May 2013, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has struggled to cope with
the rising tide of internal instability in Pakistan. Pakistan's half-hearted
fight against the remnants of al-Qaida and the home-grown Taliban like the TTP
and the TNSM, fissiparous tendencies in Baluchistan, continuing radical
extremism in the urban areas like Karachi, creeping Talibanisation in the
heartland and the floundering economy are symptomatic of the nation's gradual
slide towards becoming a 'failed state'.
Despite facing the
grave danger of a possible collapse of the state, the Pakistan government's
counter-insurgency policy lacks cohesion. The latest manifestation of the lack
of will is the commencement of a peace dialogue with the Taliban, even though
the Taliban are willing to talk only on the assumption that the introduction of
Sharia will replace democracy in Pakistan. The latest attempt at peace-making
is contrary to the wishes of the Pakistan army.
Hurt by a series
of Taliban successes in “liberating” tribal areas and under pressure from the
Americans to deliver in the “war on terror”, in the initial stages the Pakistan
army had employed massive firepower to stem the rot. Fighter aircraft,
helicopter gunships and heavy artillery were liberally employed to destroy
suspected terrorist hideouts. This heavy-handed firepower-based approach without
simultaneous infantry operations failed to dislodge the militants but caused
large-scale collateral damage and served to alienate the tribal population.
Major reverses had led to panic reactions, including the hurried negotiation of
“peace accords” that were invariably broken by the militants.
On September 5,
2006, the government of Pakistan had signed a "peace accord" with the
tribal leaders in the North Waziristan town of Miranshah. The salient points of
this rather surprising agreement included the following: the government agrees
to stop air and ground attacks against militants in Waziristan; militants are
to cease cross-border movement into and out of Afghanistan; foreigners
(understood to mean foreign jihadists) in North Waziristan will have to leave
Pakistan but "those who cannot leave will be allowed to live peacefully,
respecting the law of the land and the agreement"; area check-points and
border patrols will be manned by a tribal force and the Pakistan army will
withdraw from control points; no parallel administration will be established in
the area; the government agrees to follow local customs and traditions in
resolving issues; the tribal leaders will ensure that no one attacks
law-enforcement personnel or damages state property; tribesmen will not carry
heavy weapons, but small arms will be allowed; militants will not enter
agencies adjacent to North Waziristan; both sides will return any captured
weapons, vehicles, and communication devices; the government will release
captured militants and will not arrest them again; and, the government will pay
compensation for property damaged and deaths of innocent civilians in the area.
The terms of the
Miranshah peace accord were humiliating for a proud professional force to
swallow. The accord is reported to have led to the payment of large amounts of
money for “damaged property” — sums that went indirectly to the militants. The
US and its NATO allies were taken completely by surprise by the accord that
allowed the militants to make peace with the Pakistan army and gave them the
freedom to use the NWFP and FATA areas close to the Afghan border as safe
havens to attack the US and NATO forces. The militants soon broke the
cease-fire as well as the peace accord. In October 2007, the Pakistan Government
entered into a peace agreement with the terrorists in the Swat Valley as
militancy there was spinning out of control. This accord too did not last long.
All these accords clearly showed that the Pakistan army and the Musharraf-led
government of the day had no clear strategy to counter the growing menace of
Taliban-al Qaida insurgency in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa (NWFP) and FATA.
Soon after he
became Prime Minister again, Nawaz Sharif adopted a new counter-terrorism
policy. Titled National Counter-Terrorism and Extremism Policy 2013, it focuses
on eliminating terrorist networks through counter-insurgency operations based
on accurate intelligence, in coordination with the police and the prosecution
of captured terrorists. According to the Express Tribune, “the five-layered
counter-terror policy seeks to dismantle, contain, prevent, educate and
re-integrate.” “The policy “calls for building the police capacity and
following up on the military action in an extremist bastion with a broad
strategy focused on development work and economic revival.”
The new policy
calls for periodic re-assessment of the terror threat by the National
Counter-Terrorism Authority, measures to plug sources of funding and better
management of the western border to prevent the ingress of militants. The
policy proposes to review education in Pakistan, including the madrassa system.
Re-integration and the rehabilitation of captured and surrendered militants is
also part of the new policy. All of this is unexceptionable, but the policy
appears to have been discarded in favour of appeasement and attempts are once
again under way to broker peace.
It has now been
reported that the Taliban Shura has finalised a 15-point agenda for talks with
the government. The major demands of the Taliban include the imposition of
Sharia law in courts, the withdrawal of the army from the tribal areas and
handing over control over them to the local forces, the withdrawal of criminal
charges and the release of Taliban and foreign fighters from jails, suspension
of Pakistan's relations with the US, halting of US drone attacks, compensation
for the loss of life and damage to property in drone attacks, job offers for
the families of drone attack victims and the introduction of an Islamic system
of education in schools.
It is now well
understood that governance, development and security are three ends of the
counter-insurgency triangle and all must proceed in close synchronisation for a
counter-insurgency campaign to be waged effectively. Unless the Pakistan
Government adopts a comprehensive national-level approach on fighting the
Taliban and allied groups that are threatening the cohesion of the state, the
eventual break-up of Pakistan may become inevitable — with disastrous
consequences for the region.
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/armed-forces-get-one-rank-one-pension-rahul-gandhi-narendra-modi-both-have-something-to-say-484621?pfrom=home-otherstories
Armed forces get
'one rank, one pension': Rahul Gandhi, Narendra Modi both have something to say
After decades of
struggle, the forces have finally got one of their key wishes just before the
national election - one rank, one pension.
The ruling
Congress hopes that the announcement in Finance Minister P Chidambaram's
interim budget today, driven by Rahul Gandhi's open support for the demand by
ex-servicemen last week, will win it the support of lakhs of soldiers ahead of
the polls, due by May.
Mr Chidambaram
said the defence budget had been hiked by 10 per cent, and Rs. 500 crore would
be allocated for implementing the 'one rank, one pension' rule.
Mr Gandhi called
the media to "thank the Prime Minister, the government and Soniaji
(Gandhi)". He added, "Our soldiers should feel that their government
supports and backs them. It is our duty to help them. This is our sentiment.
They fight for us on the borders and mountains, we thank them for it." The
decision arms the Congress vice president with a major sop as he goes to
Uttarakhand on Saturday to address a rally of ex-servicemen.
Not long after his
statement came this tweet from Narendra Modi: "I welcome the decision on
One Rank, One Pension for our servicemen. Belated wisdom finally dawns on our
'hard working' UPA ministers."
The "one
rank, one pension" rule means that retired soldiers of the same rank and
length of service will receive the same pension, regardless of when they
retire. Currently, pensioners who retired before 2006 draw less pension than
their counterparts and even their juniors.
There are 14 lakh
serving and 24 lakh retired military personnel in the country and they have
been courted by both the Congress and the BJP.
Narendra Modi has
repeatedly reached out to the forces in his campaign speeches. At an event last month, he had regretted,
"We have lost so many soldiers in wars, but there is no war
memorial."
The "one
rank, one pension" demand has seen many protests by former soldiers; many
decorated veterans have returned their medals and some have even gone on hunger
strikes to fight for it.
It didn't take the
Centre much time to announce that it had accepted the demand after Rahul Gandhi
met a delegation of ex-servicemen on Friday and assured his support.
http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/one-rank-one-pension-gets-nod-114021700930_1.html
One rank, one
pension gets nod
A 10 per cent
increase in the defence budget will take military spending in India to Rs
224,000 crore up from Rs 203,627 crore allocated in the budget for 2013-14 that
ends March 31. While Rs 89,588 crore has been set aside for acquisitions by the
armed forces, Rs 134,410 crore will go into the payment of salaries and
pensions and other expenses.
While the overall
defence budget figure would suggest the armed forces have not returned money
left unspent, a closer look at the figures reveal modernisation of the forces
has taken a hit.
The Budget
estimate for capital for the three services was Rs 86,740 crore in 2013-14.
However, the revised estimate — that is, what was actually spent — was Rs
78,872 crore. This means nearly Rs 8,000 crore was left unspent.
According to
Laxman Behera of the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, the money was
diverted to meet revenue needs — that is, pay and allowances of the Indian
armed forces which have gone up from Rs 102,322 crore (BE 2013-14) to Rs 118,728 (RE 2013-14), an increase of Rs
16,400 crore. So most of the 10 per cent increase in the budget has gone to
meet the pay and allowances increase in the armed forces. In 2014-15, the pay
and allowances of the armed forces will amount to Rs 127,082 crore.
There has been
some increase under the head ‘stores’. This accounts for exchange rate
fluctuations. While this is not sizeable, it is avoidable.
Behera says the
modernisation needs of the Indian Navy are saturated but the Air Force has
taken a major hit. He says, the shortfall in the outlay for the Air Force is
nearly Rs 5,200 crore. In a year when the Air Force has to place orders for the
complement of Medium MultiRole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA), a shortage of funds
makes no sense. He says that the effective increase in the defence budget is
9.98 per cent but the increase in modernisation budget is no more than 3.5 per
cent.
However, the most
innovative — and potentially most costly — feature of the defence budget was
the acceptance in principle of one rank, one pension (OROP), which was mooted
by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi just two days ago.
Although Finance
Minister P Chidambaram announced that he was putting aside Rs 500 crore to
finance OROP, the consensus among defence administrators was that even
conservatively, the aggregated cost of OROP across the forces and ranks would
be anything between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000 crore, not counting arrears. This
does not include the administrative cost of calculating OROP and will require a
veritable army of accounting staff.
OROP means persons
in the same rank — regardless of the date of retirement, the last pay drawn and
the number of years served in a rank —
will be entitled to the same pension. Typically, after a 10-year wage revision
done via the Pay Commissions, a Major General may have put in anything between
32 and 35 years in service. However, the last pay drawn and DA (both of which
are computed while calculating pension) could vary wildly, depending on how
long he might have stayed in that rank.
“The case of every soldier is
different. The Indian defence forces have 30 lakh pensioners. Even feeding that
data in a computer is a mind-boggling task, let alone working out each case,”
said Lt Gen HS Bagga, former Adjutant General in the Indian Army who has worked
on OROP in the past. What Gen Bagga suggests is partial equity — five year
blocks in which people in the same rank could be given the same pension.
Otherwise, he says, an army of people will be required just to address the
administrative issues arising out of OROP.
However, political reactions
to OROP were generally favourable, with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi
upholding it as the most important element in the Budget.
The Congress party obviously
feels the move could have electoral gains, especially in constituencies that
have a big section of ex-servicemen.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/02/17/us-military-exercises-in-asia-meant-to-send-signal-to-china-say-experts/
US military
exercises in Asia meant to send a signal to China, say experts
The Pentagon has
airmailed Beijing a belated and unsubtle message for the recent Chinese New
Year – by parachuting in Pacific combat troops into the Asia Pacific.
After more than a
decade of wars in the Middle East, 2014 is the year in which the U.S.
officially starts re-orientating its military focus to Asia as Washington aims
to counter the military build-up by China.
The U.S. fears
America’s regional allies will suffer instability as Beijing flexes it muscles
– including developing ballistic missiles designed to take out the U.S. Pacific
fleet.
This past weekend,
as part of the annual multinational joint exercise known as Cobra Gold, the
U.S. dropped a crack airborne task force into central Thailand. They were the
first U.S. boots on Asian soil since the official change in military and
foreign policy posture.
“It’s sent a message in terms of our
capability of combat to our allies concerned about those who threaten peace and
stability to the region.”
- U.S. Army Col.
Matt McFarlane
The drill was to
seize and secure an airfield at Lop Buri, 90 miles north of Bangkok, amid a
humanitarian disaster. The exercise involved 400 parachutists from 4th Brigade
Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, known in military shorthand as
4-25, based at Fort Richardson, outside of Anchorage.
With the U.S. and
Thailand leading Cobra Gold, commanders and analysts say the strategic aim of
the exercise was to demonstrate to Beijing’s communist leadership how fast and
effective the U.S. can be in supporting its Asian allies, all of whom lie in a
tight arc around China -- from India and Nepal through Singapore, Malaysia and
Indonesia to South Korea and Japan.
“It’s sent a message in terms
of our capability of combat to our allies concerned about those who threaten
peace and stability to the region,” said Army Col. Matt McFarlane, 4-25’s commander, speaking to Fox News by
phone from Lop Buri.
“We’re an established
contingency force for when there’s an operational requirement to get a large
amount of force combat power anywhere at any time [in the Asia Pacific] and to
reassure our allies we can be there to support them.”
The presence of U.S. troops on
the ground in what China considers its backyard will be unsettling for Beijing,
say military analysts, because it resents America's 60-year dominance of the
Asia-Pacific.
“It’s a powerful message that
the U.S. is putting boots on the ground because they have the entire U.S.
military standing behind them. Every country in the region recognizes that,”
said retired Gen. Jack Keane, a national security analyst and former acting U.S.
Army chief of staff.
“We’ve put parachuting forces
into places and taken an amount of risk before and the U.S. will continue to do
that,” Keane added.
As Cobra Gold got under way,
one Chinese military official gloatingly told state media that Beijing’s
“regional military impact […] cannot be ignored” – which is why the Chinese are
participating in the eight-nation exercise for the first time this year
Their invitation is viewed as
an attempt for all sides to gloss over the thorny issue that the drill is
partially targeted at Beijing, which has been increasing its military spending
at more than 10 percent annually.
Skeptics view China’s presence
as a token gesture; its contingency sent to Cobra Gold comprises a mere 17
observers, compared to the 9,000 U.S. troops involved. Those observers are not
participating in the live-fire drills, jungle survival training, amphibious
landings and warplane formations.
Despite official downplaying
of the underlying politics behind Cobra Gold, there is growing alarm among U.S.
defense leaders over China’s military advance, particularly its deep strike
capability.
Beijing has been quietly
developing an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) that can strike U.S. aircraft
carriers and other vessels at a range of 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers). It is
estimated that the missile can travel at Mach 10 (4-5km/sec) and reach its
maximum range in less than 12 minutes.
The U.S. fleet has nothing to
repel firepower of that magnitude, prompting lawmakers to join in calls for a
rapid development of new systems to intercept the ASBMs.
China’s advanced missiles --
and its provocative claims to Pacific land and airspace – are viewed in
Washington as intimidation towards the U.S. and its allies and as part of
China’s regional power grab.
“We are going to have to have
early defenses against ballistic missiles if we’re going to remain dominant in
the western Pacific,” Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., told Fox News at the Reagan
National Defense Forum held in California in November.
Until those systems are
developed, 4-25’s involvement in Cobra Gold stands out as a critical line of
tactical capability because it is the only airborne brigade the nation has
covering the Pacific. It is also emerging as one of the most versatile brigades
in the U.S. military.
The U.S. has become used to
fighting insurgency-based warfare in the desert and mountainous terrains of
Iraq and Afghanistan.
4-25’s unique area of
operation stretches from Asia’s rainforests to the Arctic Circle, presenting
challenging conditions the U.S. hasn’t fought in since Vietnam right through to
the deep-cold hazards of protecting U.S. claims to oil underneath the northern
ice cap.
“This mission in Thailand is
the very start of that,” said LTC, Alan Brown, spokesman for U.S. Army, Alaska.
“4-25 helps spearhead the combat readiness for America’s new Asia posture
because their geographic reach extends more than any other over such diverse
and extreme terrain and weather conditions.”
The brigade can deploy
infantry soldiers anywhere in the region within 19 hours from “the phone call
to being on the ground.” It is supported by a Stryker brigade, whose tactical
vehicles can be flown in to bolster the advance forces within two to four days.
In military parlance, its
combat readiness is considered part of America’s standard battle rhythm. And,
as the brigade’s additional training with their Thai colleagues is intended to
show this weekend, it doesn’t mean that America would need to enter into a
fight in the Asia Pacific on its own.
“If we do get into some kind
of conflict or rapid engagement in the Asia Pacific,” added Brown, ”then the
U.S. is going to do it in full lockstep with its partner nations.”
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/Night-User-Trial-of-Agni-I-to-be-Conducted-on-Tuesday/2014/02/17/article2061274.ece#.UwKz-85W0a8
Night User Trial
of Agni-I to be Conducted on Tuesday
India is heading
for a historic day on Tuesday when user trial of an Agni series missile by the
armed forces during night will be conducted. Though in 2009, an attempt was
made to fire Agni-II in the evening, it had ended in a failure as the missile
could not meet the mission parameters.
With logistic
support from the DRDO, the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Indian Army is
slated to conduct the much awaited evening trial of 700-km plus range
surface-to-surface nuclear capable ballistic missile Agni-I from the Wheeler
Island off the Odisha coast.
A reliable source
told ‘The Express’ on Sunday that the weapon in its operational configuration
would be test-fired between 7 pm and 8 pm on Tuesday.
However, defence
officials fear that the downpour triggered by an anti-cyclonic system developed
in northwest Bay of Bengal may prove a dampener. The test range has been
experiencing rainfall since Saturday night and the forecast has been that rain
and thunder shower may occur in next 24 hours.
“We can fire the missile as
per the schedule if we get a dry weather throughout Tuesday. We are ready and
the missile has already been integrated. While the range integration has been
finished, the tracking systems have been put on place. The mission depends on
the favourable weather condition,” said a defence official.
On November 23, 2009, the
first ever night launching of Agni-II ended in failure as the missile failed to
achieve the pre-coordinated mission parameters. The weapon faltered just before
the second stage separation and behaved erratically deviating from its
coordinated path.
Defence sources said there
were considerable improvements in its re-entry technology and manoeuvrability
since Agni-I’s first trial. As the missile has already been inducted in the
Army, this test will reconfirm the technical parameters set for the user.
This will be a limited stock
production (LSP) series test of Agni-I, which has been randomly selected from a
bunch of missiles in the production lot. The Agni-I is an antiquated
short-range and surface based ballistic missile in the Agni series.
Compared to its longer range
cousins, its height is 15 metres and it is powered by both solid and liquid
propellants which impart it a speed of 2.5 km per second. The missile weighs
around 12 tonnes and can carry both conventional and nuclear payload of about
1000 kg.
The missile was first
test-fired on January 25, 2002 and since then several trials have been
conducted. It is designed to bridge the gap between indigenously built short
range Prithvi, already deployed in the army, and medium range Agni-II that has
a range of more than 2,000 km.
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