Agni-V is India’s longest-range operational ballistic missile, a road-mobile, canister-launched, three-stage solid-fuel missile with an intercontinental range exceeding 5,000 km. Developed by DRDO, Agni-V forms the apex of India’s land-based nuclear deterrent and, following a landmark 2024 test, has demonstrated Multiple Independently Targetable Re-Entry Vehicle (MIRV) capability, making India only the sixth country to demonstrate this technology.[1]
Agni-V development began around 2008 under DRDO’s Research Centre Imarat, Advanced Systems Laboratory, and Defence Research and Development Laboratory in Hyderabad, evolving out of the earlier Agni-III programme. The missile was initially referred to internally as “Agni-III+” before being formally redesignated Agni-V around 2010, reflecting a substantial redesign rather than a simple range extension of its predecessor.[2]
Agni-V has been flight-tested numerous times since its first test in 2012, including a set of joint DRDO-Strategic Forces Command (SFC) user trials of the canister-launched configuration conducted in January, June, and December 2018, validating the missile’s readiness for operational deployment from a road-mobile canister launcher. India’s armed forces began inducting an initial batch of Agni-V missiles into service in 2019.[2]
The missile measures approximately 17.5 metres in length and 2 metres in diameter, with a launch mass of around 50,000 kg, and can deliver a payload of roughly 1,100 kg to a range exceeding 5,000 km, placing most of Asia, including all of China, within its reach from Indian territory.[3]
Agni-V uses a canisterised “cold-launch” system, in which the missile is ejected from a sealed transport canister by gas pressure before its main rocket motor ignites in the air, reducing thermal stress on the launch vehicle and allowing the missile to be stored, transported, and readied for launch with minimal maintenance. The sealed canister also protects the missile from environmental exposure, extending its readiness and service life while mounted on a road-mobile transporter-erector-launcher.[3]
In March 2024, India conducted the first flight test of an Agni-V variant fitted with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-Entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology under the codename “Mission Divyastra,” successfully demonstrating the ability to release several independently targetable warheads from a single missile toward geographically separated targets. This capability allows a single Agni-V launcher to threaten multiple strategic targets simultaneously, significantly complicating an adversary’s missile-defence calculations and substantially increasing the effective strike capacity of India’s land-based deterrent without requiring more missiles or launchers.[4]
India conducted a second flight test of an advanced Agni missile with MIRV capability on 8 May 2026 from Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha, successfully releasing multiple payloads targeted at spatially distributed points across the Indian Ocean Region, further validating and refining the MIRV bus and re-entry vehicle separation technology first demonstrated under Mission Divyastra.[1]
As India’s longest-range operational missile with confirmed MIRV capability, Agni-V provides the most credible and flexible component of India’s land-based strategic deterrent, reinforcing the country’s “No First Use” nuclear doctrine by ensuring a survivable, road-mobile second-strike option capable of holding a wide range of targets at risk with a single missile. India’s demonstrated MIRV capability places it in a select group of nations — alongside the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom — with confirmed multiple-warhead ballistic missile technology.[5]
Agni-V is operated by India’s Strategic Forces Command (SFC), the tri-service organisation responsible for the operational management and deployment of India’s nuclear-capable land- and air-launched delivery systems, reflecting the missile’s role as a fully integrated component of India’s nuclear command structure rather than a purely developmental or test asset.[2]
| Type | Intercontinental-Range Ballistic Missile (Road-Mobile) |
| Country | India |
| Manufacturer | DRDO |
| Range | 5,000+ km |
| Length | ~17.5 m |
| Launch Mass | ~50,000 kg |
| Payload | ~1,100 kg (MIRV-capable) |
| Launch Method | Canisterised, road-mobile |
| In Service Since | 2019 (MIRV variant tested 2024/2026) |
| Operator | Strategic Forces Command |