India set for ICBM test-launch, says report

WASHINGTON, MAY 4. India is preparing to test-launch its first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), the Surya-II or Agni- IV, a report has said. The first test, expected in January next year, will cover 5,000 km while a follow-on version, Surya-II, will be tested in 2003 with a range of 12,000 km, the Defense News said quoting a research scientist of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Surya-II's range will eventually be extended to 20,000 km, the unnamed scientist said. Surya is based on a combination of liquid and solid-propulsion technology, and is a variant of India's Agni missiles which have a range of over 2,000 km.

Surya's test-bed will be a single-stage liquid-fuel rocket based on cryogenic engine technology. The cryogenic upper stage project is slated for completion by the end of 2002, it said. Russia has a deal with India to supply seven cryogenic engines from 1998 to 2002. The first engine was received in December 1998 for a satellite booster. One of the next cryogenic engine deliveries will be for Surya, another DRDO source told the weekly.

The Surya missile project was begun in 1994, using cryogenic technology developed at the liquid propulsion systems centre laboratories in Thiruvananthapuram and guidance technologies from the geo-stationary launch vehicle effort, the report said. It added that the Agni-I and II missiles were ready for operation and had been ordered for serial production.

- PTI

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