M A I N   N E W S

Agni-III failure: probe begins
Girja Shankar Kaura and Jangveer Singh
Tribune News Service

New Delhi / Bangalore, July 10
The failure of India’s nuclear capable intermediate range ballistic missile Agni-III yesterday at Wheeler Island, off the coast of Orissa, has come as a major shock for the country’s top defence scientists. They had been preparing for the momentous occasion for months and waiting in the wings for the clearance from the Government to carry out the test.

While the Ministry of Defence (MoD) was officially not ready to comment on the failure of Agni-III, reports emerging from the defence scientists’ community was that they had today started a probe into the snag that caused the missile to crash into the sea well short of its intended 3,000 km range.

The MoD officials speaking on condition of anonymity said that the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists were collecting data from the launch pad and from the tracking stations. After examining the reports, they would come to a final decision for the reason behind the failure of Agni-III.

Officials here said that although it would be too early to hazard a guess as to what went wrong, it would seem that a design defect prevented the second stage from separating. They said that it was because of this possible defect that the missile couldn’t maintain its intended trajectory and could stay aloft for only five minutes instead of the 15 minutes it was intended to.

“Since this was the first time the missile was being tested, there was every possibility of a failure. Once the glitches are ironed out, another flight could be contemplated,” an official said. However there was no word available as to when the DRDO would be ready to carry out the next flight of Agni-III.

Agni-III, India’s longest range missile yet which is capable of reaching targets in China, was test-fired at 11.03 am from the Wheeler Island facility off the coast of Orissa yesterday. It rose to a height of 12 km before crashing into the Bay of Bengal, 1,000 km from the launch site.

The DRDO officials immediately went into a huddle to examine the data from the launch pad and the tracking stations in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to probe the cause of the snag that prevented the missile from fulfilling its mission parameters.

According to Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, there was no cause for despondency. “The first phase of the launch was successful. In the second phase, there was a technical snag, which is being analysed. This is not abnormal,” he said.

BANGALORE: ISRO today disclosed that the launch of the intermediate range ballistic missile Agni-III had gone wrong in the stage of separation and it was analyzing the data.

Agni-III, which has a range of 3,500 km is meant to carry nuclear warheads weighing up to 48 tonnes, and was scheduled to be launched in 2000. The launch, however, was postponed to 2003-04 and then to now after development of technical snags.

ISRO Chairman Dr G. Madhavan Nair today said the non-separation of the first stage from the second stage was the main reason for the failure. He said the booster did not separate from the launcher causing the problem.

DRDO sources said another reason for the failure could be the use of variety of new technologies. They said the new technologies used in Agni-III included rocket motors and launch control systems.