Preparations for Agni-V launch hit last lap | Missile payload on way to Wheeler Island

By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service 

Bangalore: India's longest-ever near-Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Agni-V is scheduled to be test-fired from the Wheeler Island (Orissa) in the second week of April. The final stages and payload of the missile are set to move out of the Missile Complex in Hyderabad any time now. Sources tell Express that some major parts, including the motors of the missile, have already reached the launch site.

“The final checks and integration of all stages will be carried out in Wheeler Island. The check-out and launch pad tests will be completed in the next 15-20 days. The new launcher for the missile is ready. Over 200 scientists and close to 300 technicians are working round-the-clock at the Missile Complex and other work centers,” sources said. The missile is parented by Defence Research Development Organisation's (DRDO) Hyderabad-based unit, Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL).
With a range of 5,000-plus-km, the missile when launched, is expected to travel to its target in international waters close to Australia. “The ships meant for tracking, which are normally positioned near the target, are expected to begin their long journey in the first week of April. We expect the sailing time to be between 10-12 days,” sources said.
Agni-V is the first Indian missile with four stages, including three propulsion and one final payload stage (re-entry vehicle). The others in the Agni series (A-2, A-3 & A-4) had only three stages making Agni-V an extremely complex vehicle. “The missile is expected to hit the target within 20 minutes as things stand now. The tentative date for the launch is fixed for April 16 and this is again not final,” sources said.
As reported in these columns earlier, Agni-V can be launched from anywhere in India in any direction at any time.

Copyright@The New Indian Express

Big Daddy warms up for target Thandavam | Agni-V enters last lap | Final tests on propulsion stages over | Flight system integration underway

A clear picture on India's longest missile Agni-V will emerge in the coming days with scientists shifting gears to put the beast closer to the first-strike zone. Photo: Tarmak007

By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Kuttemperoor (Kerala): Agni-V, the Big Daddy of Indian missiles is warming up for a possible ‘first strike,’ in February or March. Sources associated with Independent India’s longest kill-toy project told Express that all propulsion stages of the 5,000-plus-range, nuke-capable and near-Inter-continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) have been tested. As this piece is fired to the print, the flight systems are being integrated with final tests on getting underway.

The launch is scheduled from the Wheeler Island, off Orissa Coast, and sources in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) confirm that the campaign has entered the near-mission mode phase. Notwithstanding the Red Dragon’s uneasiness over India’s killer-instinct moves with A-V’s pre-test propaganda, missile scientists are inspired by New Delhi’s desire to see the Big Daddy’s first target-Thandavam. (Note: The word Thandavam comes from Shiva Thandavam, a dance form linked to Hindu God Lord Shiva. It is widely believed that Thandavam represents both destruction & creation of the Universe and reveals the cycles of death and birth. The usage of target-Thandavam is to depict the possible destruction depths of the missile and should be seen as an innovative coinage of a phrase for convenient writing and not making light of the might of Lord Shiva as believed by His followers. |akm|)

The missile can be launched from anywhere in Indian in any direction at any time. It does not require any pre-planning and computes its own path once the launch point and target are specified. “The course of the missile changes depending upon in-flight estimation of system performance. It has several very strong built-in safety features. The US, Russia and China have missiles of ranges higher than A-V. However, in the Indian threat scenario, it meets all the requirements. There are no exact equivalents,” claim sources. 
With composite propulsion motors for stages two and three, the A-V boasts of many new first-time technologies. The Stage-3 is a conical motor -- first of its kind in the country. The electronics systems are highly integrated with digital connectivity to minimise cabling. “What used to be tens of kilometres of cabling has been reduced considerably. It uses highly accurate navigation system integrated in a multi-sensor environment, a completely closed missile fired from a canister are some other features,” say sources. 
It will be a ready-to-use-weapon. The heating during re-entry is much more severe in this system with temperatures going beyond 4000 degrees Celsius. “It also carries multiple instrumentation systems and is designed to carry single payload. Like all other Agni-series missiles, this is also nuclear capable. It is a road mobile system with range of more than 5000 km,” sources said. 
Most of the technologies onboard A-V (ring-laser gyro-based inertial navigation system [RINS], micro-navigation system [MINGS], redundancy management, composite motor and closed inter-stage) have been tested in Agni-IV. “The composite motors are 2-m diameter carrying considerably higher propellant. The flight duration of this system is also longer. The thermal environment during re-entry is considerably more severe which will be tested during the first flight,” sources said. 
The core strength of A-V comes from DRDO’s key installations in Hyderabad including Advanced System laboratory, Research Centre Imarat and Defence Research Development Laboratory. Many industries and academic institutions are involved with A-V project. The core team consists of about 100 scientists. In addition, over 1000 engineers, technicians and scientists have been roped in from 15 DRDO labs for the design of various sub-systems. 

[Copyright@The New Indian Express]

Tears & Triumphs: Tessy’s Agni-IV team drew inspiration from failure | PM's pat on X'Mas eve

Tessy Thomas (centre), Agni-IV Project Director, leads her team at the high-security Advanced Systems Laboratory in Hyderabad. Photo: Tarmak007

Tessy Thomas

By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore/Hyderabad: Behind every successful missile, there’s a woman. And, behind every successful woman, there are men, boys, girls and many more! Welcome to Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) – one of the most sensitive wings of Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO). Nobody talks much about it and not even listed in DRDO’s official website! Thanks to the recent success of Agni-IV, the longest missile India tested successfully so far (range in excess of 3500 km), the spotlight has stuck on ASL. 

In a ‘cleared interaction’ with Express at one of ASL’s high security tech-thatched rooms, Tessy Thomas, Project Director, A-IV summoned her faithful troops. India’s first woman scientist to head a missile programme -- now popularly known as Agniputhri – began the session by introducing her team. “My core team consists of around 60 scientists with an average age of 30. The last one year was probably the toughest in my life. Missile scientists are shunned by everyone the moment something goes wrong. Tell me one thing in this world that has got 100 per cent success in the first attempt. We learn from our mistakes. We learn from our failures. We don’t give up,” said Tessy, the leader, the teacher and the philosopher. 

There are two names she swears by: Missile Man A P J Abdul Kalam and Avinash Chander, the soft-spoken Chief Controller, R&D (Missiles and Strategic Systems) of DRDO. “We look to both for inspiration. There are many others who reposed faith in us. Sharmaji, why don’t you speak,” she said looking at S.K. Sharma, Electrical Integration Group of Agni-IV. 

Sharma said that last year’s failure did dent the morale of the team. “The spirits go down for a while. Everyone gets hit. Everyone is questioned. Every system is checked. Even if a missile fails, as you all (media) always love to write, there are many positives we derive. There will be many new critical systems that would have executed its missions for the first time,” he said. Before the recent successful launch of A-IV, Team ASL scanned the project threadbare and is said to have re-visited the ways they worked, getting down to the basics. When asked how it feels to take the orders from a woman, Sharma said: “Madam is very tough!” 

It was evident that Tessy’s team devised many means to stay focused. “Mistakes are pardonable. Openness in accepting them is a great art. The fear factor is removed and we look into the failure analysis carefully. The minute observations of the team are recorded and we narrow down the failure chances mentally to 0.1 per cent,” says C H V Ram Mohan, Deputy Project Director and Vehicle Director, A-IV. 

Brain-storming night-out sessions, tech augmentation coupled with arguments, emotions and sometimes touchdown of tears – all have played key roles -- away from the launch pad. “We draw inspiration from our failure,” says Reshma, a young Scientist (C) with A-IV programme. 

Tears & triumphs! 

|To be continued | Copyright@The New Indian Express |

(CRACKING INDIA'S MISSILE CODE is an exclusive series currently on in The New Indian Express. In the days ahead, you will get to read a mix of news-breaks and tech-upgrades on current and futuristic missile programs of India, in addition to some human-interest pieces. Email your thoughts on this long-range series to anantha.ak@gmail.com and point out factual errors, if any, that might have crept in despite my best efforts.)

PART-XI

YES WE CAN: Saraswat dedicates Agni-IV success to youngsters in DRDO

By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is on Cloud 9 following the success of the long-range, surface-to-surface missile Agni-IV on November 16. Often battered and bruised by the users for not delivering what has been promised, the DRDO is hogging all the limelight – thanks to the big-bang strike by Agni-IV.

Known for his inimitable straight-forward comments, DRDO chief Dr V K Saraswat dedicated the success of the launch to the young DRDO.  “I dedicate this success to all the youngsters who have contributed with a large heart. I am not playing to the gallery as I have already communicated this internally. The mentoring we started a couple of years back is paying rich dividends. Give it to them (youngsters) as they deserve all the laurels,” Saraswat told The New Indian Express.

Making mincemeat of technology control regimes, Saraswat said that Agni-IV virtually made these  powers futile at one go. “Nobody can stop us and nobody can dictate terms to us. Nobody can get us. It is not DRDO we are talking about, but India. We have shown the world how indigenous new-age technologies can be transferred efficiently on to a top-class product,” he said.

The DRDO chief went on to say that the missile technology nuances mastered by his team has put India on par with the best in the world. “We will soon tell another story when Agni-V comes out. It's a constant process and we are all geared up. We have got the momentum and we will get it going,” Saraswat said.

The mood in the Missile Complex in Hyderabad too is ecstatic with a strong sense of 'yes-we-can-belief' settling in among various teams that have been working on Agni-IV.

Speaking to Express from Hyderabad over phone, G. Satheesh Reddy, Associate Director, Research Centre Imarat (RCI),  said that DRDO's patience have finally paid off. “After last year's failed campaign, we got on to the basics and dissected every system that went onboard. Today, with the success of Agni-IV we have witnessed the quantum jump in the state-of-the-art technologies in missile-making. We are now steadily moving towards our inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) dream and all efforts will now go into making of Agni-V,” says Sateesh, a young DRDO brain, who got recently elevated to the 'Outstanding Scientist' status.

It was Satheesh's team that developed ring-laser gyro-based inertial navigation system (RINS) and micro-navigation system (MINGS) for Agni-IV. “We are thrilled by the telemetry results of the missile and we couldn't have asked for a better launch,” he said.

DRDO sources who were part of the Agni-IV campaign said that the missile could go up to a maximum of 3,700 km and during the maiden launch it touched between 3,200-3,400 km, before hitting with target.

Copyright@The New Indian Express
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