New Delhi:
The whole world knows that Pakistan provides safe haven for terrorists. Pakistan is a kingpin of harbouring terrorism in other countries including India. By harbouring terrorists and ceasefire violations, Pakistan has been waging a proxy war against India. Indian security forces eliminated 733 terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir since 2016. Pakistan is actively involved in shedding the blood of innocents and several times there were demands that we should go for a war with Pakistan. Many of you would agree with this. Aren't you? You would further agree to the fact that India is one of the most rapidly growing militaries in the world. The country has evolved from a regional force with tactical capabilities to a growing strategic force with a global reach now. India has a series of deadly missiles including Prithvi, Agni, Surya, Brahmos, Dhanush, Prahaar and K missile family that can destroy Pakistan within a few minutes.
1. Prithvi Missile:
Prithvi Missile is a tactical surface-to-surface short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) developed by DRDO. Prithvi I class is a single-stage liquid-fuelled surface-to-surface ballistic missile having a maximum warhead mounting capability of 1,000 kg, with a range of 150 km. Prithvi II class is also a single-stage liquid-fuelled missile having a maximum warhead mounting capability of 500 kg, but with an extended range of 250 km. On the other hand, Prithvi III can carry a 1,000 kg warhead to a distance of 350 km. These missiles are capable of hitting major Pakistani cities, such as Lahore, Sialkot, the capital Islamabad, and Rawalpindi.
Lanunch of Prithvi Missile - Photo Credit: Twitter
2. Agni Missile:
Developed by DRDO, Agni missile is a family of medium to intercontinental-range ballistic missiles. Agni-I is capable of carrying a conventional payload of 1,000 kg, with a range of 700 km. Agni-II with a range of 2,000–2,500 km is 20 metres long, has a diameter of one metre and weighs around 18 tonnes. Agni-III is the third in the Agni series of missiles has a range of 3,500 km and can take a warhead of 1.5 tonnes. Agni-V is a solid fuelled intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) which can strike targets more than 5,500 km away. These missiles are capable of covering almost all Pakistani cities, including Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Peshawar, Karachi, Quetta and Gwadar.
Agni Missile showcased in Republic Day parade - Photo Credit: Twitter
3. Surya Missile:
India is reportedly developing the Intercontinental ballistic missile named 'Surya'. The DRDO is believed to have begun the project in 1994. According to the report, Surya is speculated to have a range between 12,000 to 16,000 Km. It is also reported that the Surya is an intercontinental-range, surface-based, solid and liquid propellant ballistic missile.
Representational image - Photo Credit: Twitter
4. BrahMos Missile:
Developed jointly by DRDO and Russian Federation's NPO Mashinostroyeniya, BrahMos is the world's fastest anti-ship cruise missile. The missile travels at speeds of Mach 2.8 to 3.0, which is now being upgraded to Mach 5.0. BrahMos claims it has the capability of attacking surface targets by flying as low as five metres in altitude and the maximum altitude it can fly is 14,000 metres. The ship-launched and land-based missiles can carry a 200 kg warhead, whereas the aircraft-launched variant (BrahMos A) can carry a 300 kg warhead. The range of BrahMos has been limited to 290 km.
BrahMos Missile showcased in Republic Day parade - Photo Credit: Twitter
5. Dhanush Missile:
India also possesses an estimated two ship-launched 350-km range Dhanush SRBMs, which could be fitted with nuclear warheads. It has been developed for the Indian Navy. Dhanush is capable of carrying both conventional as well as nuclear warheads with a payload capacity of 500 kg-1000 kg and can strike targets in the range of 350 km.
Dhanush missile launch - Photo Credit: Twitter
6. Prahaar Missile:
Prahaar is a solid-fuel road-mobile tactical ballistic missile developed by the DRDO. Prahaar is expected to replace the Prithvi-I short-range ballistic missile in Indian service. This solid-fuelled missile can be launched within 2–3 minutes without any preparation, providing significantly better reaction time than liquid-fuelled Prithvi ballistic missiles and act as a gap filler in the 150 km range.
Prahaar Missile launch - Photo Credit: Twitter
7. K missile family
Named after Indian scientist and former president A P J Abdul Kalam, the K family of missiles is a series of submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM). The Sagarika/K-15 missile is the SLBM version of the land-based Shaurya missile. Medium range K-15 ballistic missile has a range between 700km to 1,500 km with varying payload. K-4 is an intermediate-range submarine-launched ballistic missile under development by DRDO. It is a 10 m long missile weighing 20 tonnes, capable of carrying a 1 tonne payload up to a range of 3,500 km. K-5 missile is reportedly will arm the future variants of Arihant class submarines of the Indian Navy. It has a maximum range of 5,000 kilometres and a payload of one tonne. K-6 missile with a length of 12m, width of 2m, a payload of 2-3 tonne warhead and a maximum range of 6,000 km.
Sagarika/K-15 missile launch - Photo Credit: Twitter
