Prithvi
The Prithvi (Earth) is a single stage, dual engine, liquid fuel (red fuming nitric acid as an oxidiser, with a 50/50 mix of xylidiene and triethylamine as fuel), road-mobile, short-range ballistic missile which began design in 1983 and was first tested in 1988. The missile has a length of 9 metres, a diameter of 1.1 [...]
Agni I
The Agni-I (Fire) is a 15-metre tall, 12-ton, single-stage, solid-fuelled, medium range ballistic missile. The missile is smaller than its big brother - the Agni-II IRBM - in dimensions and range, but can still carry a one ton nuclear payload to most targets in Pakistan without having to be deployed at the borders. The core and triggers can be swiftly assembled by BARC (Bhaba Atomic Research Centre) and DRDO (Defense Research & Development Organisation) - within India’s avowed no-first-use paradigm. Agni-I is also designed to be launched from a rail-based mobile launcher; one that can move on a standard broad-gauge rail system and also from a road-mobile launcher system. DRDO’s Ahmednagar-based VRDE (Vehicle Research & Development Establishment) and the Pune-based R&DE (Research & Development Engineers) played important roles in validating the tractor-cum-transporter-cum-launcher. A mobile missile system reduces vulnerability and allows for greater operational flexibility, while critics feel that the cost of these mobile systems could be higher and that they greatly increase the time for moving from one place to another
Astra
The Astra missile programme is headed by the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO). The goal of this programme is to provide the Indian Air Force (IAF) with an indigenously-designed beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air missile to equip the IAF’s Mirage 2000, MiG-29, Su-30MKI and the future Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). A model of the Astra was first shown to the public at Aero India in December 1998. On 25 July 2001 in Indian Parliament, then-incumbent Defence Minister Jaswant Singh said that a feasibility study for the Astra has commenced, after the completion of which a project for development of the Astra is planned to be undertaken. Development of this missile is likely to take about seven to eight years. Unconfirmed reports state that the first ground-launched ballistic tests of the Astra airframe are planned for 2003. The Mirage 2000H has been designated as the first potential platform for the Astra when the weapon enters service at the end of this decade.