Article Posted on : - May 24, 2012

A DRDO photo of Agni V launch.

BANGALORE (PTI): India is capable of developing missiles that can hit targets located at more than 8,000 km away, a top official has said.

"We will develop it as and when we see a need to develop a missile longer in range than Agni-V. We have the capability to do it," Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister V K Saraswat told reporters here on Wednesday.

Since DRDO had already crossed the 'threshold' of making a system with longer capability and developing its sub-systems, making a longer version of Agni-V would be easier, Saraswat, also the Director General of Defence Research Organisation, said.

Last month, India test-fired nuclear-capable Agni-V Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile that brought China within its reach with a strike range of over 5000 km.

Saraswat said Agni-V can double up as a satellite launcher for hurling small-sized spacecraft into the space.

Agni-V had major propulsion blocks and a kind of aviation technology which makes it a suitable launch vehicle for sending small satellites into space, he added.

DRDO had started work on it, he said but refused to give a timeframe.