Defective heat shield caused Indian missile glitch
Feb 14, 2007 - 2:12:04 PM
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Agni-III, which has a range between 3,500 and 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 and from silos. It is equipped with inertial guidance systems with improved optical or radar terminal phase correlation systems that gives it a high degree of accuracy.
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By IANS,
[RxPG] New Delhi, Feb 14 - A defective heat shield caused the failure of the first test-firing of the indigenously developed nuclear capable intermediate range ballistic missile - Agni-III last year, a top scientist said Wednesday.
'We have identified the problem. It was because of a defective heat shield. It is a problem that is easily resolvable,' M. Natarajan, who is the scientific advisor to the defence minister, told reporters on the sidelines of a defence awards function here.
'We were using a rigid heat shield. Now we have realised the need for a flexible heat shield,' he added.
Explaining the glitch, Natarajan said that when a missile travels at hypersonic speeds, it encounters immensely cold air that mixes with the hot air from its exhaust. Because of the rigid heat shield, this cold air got sucked inside, causing the missile to veer off course and crash into the sea well short of its 3,000 km intended range.
'As I said, it is a problem that is easily resolvable, otherwise I wouldn't be standing here smiling,' Natarajan contended.
He, however, would not put a timeframe to when the missile would again be test- fired.
Agni-III, India's longest range missile yet that is capable of reaching targets in China, was test-fired at 11.03 a.m. from the Wheeler Island facility off the Orissa coast July 9, 2005. It rose to a height of 12 km before it came crashing into the Bay of Bengal, 1,000 km from the launch site.
According to noted defence analyst Commodore C. Uday Bhaskar, the launch could not be entirely termed a failure.
'It's an important punctuation in the evolution of India's credible nuclear deterrence. The fact that it took off is a major success. Re-entry is always a tricky situation and I would think it would take eight to 10 tests before it fully evolves,' Bhaskar told IANS.
Agni-III, which has a range between 3,500 and 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 and from silos. It is equipped with inertial guidance systems with improved optical or radar terminal phase correlation systems that gives it a high degree of accuracy.
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.
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