Antony to honour DRDO lab behind Agni-5 missile

A DRDO laboratory behind the successful design and development of the over 5,000 km-range Agni-5 ballistic missile system will be awarded by Defence Minister A K Antony tomorrow for its contributions toward the country's strategic projects.
The Hyderabad-based Advanced System Limited headed by distinguished scientist V G Sekharan would be given the Performance Award by the Defence Minister for its role in the Agni-5 missile which was first successfully test fired in April last year, DRDO officials said here.
The lab is also working towards developing long-range missiles with capability to carry more payload on them, officials said.
India is planning to carry out two more tests of its over 5,000-km range Agni-5 ballistic missile this year after which it would be ready for operational deployment.

India had joined the elite club of nations with such capability including the US, Russia and China when it carried out the first test of Agni-5 in April last year.
India is also planning to equip its most powerful missile with multiple warheads.
Known as Multiple Independently Targeted Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV), the missile is being developed to make it capable of carrying multiple warheads to destroy several targets in one go.
According to the DRDO, MIRV missiles are equipped with small on-board rocket motors and computerised inertial guidance system which manoeuvres warheads to several different trajectories.