http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... 2#p1271182
Hmm....I never deviated from the official quote on the range.....but for the first time here i'm taking a step out of the official line. Indeed, this is a 8000 + km puppy, sorry giant
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No, it don't need be an unofficial message, as further confirmed by Ajai Shukla...
The DRDO chief told Business Standard that the Agni-5 was not just a long-range rocket. “This missile incorporates unique technologies that will allow us to have multiple variants. We can achieve short ranges, higher ranges… all with the same missile,” he said.
Although the DRDO calls the Agni-5 an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), its range of 5000 kilometres puts it --- by most conventional measures --- in the class of intermediate range ballistic missiles (IRBMs), which have ranges of 3,000-5,500 kilometres. The Agni-5’s range is carefully calibrated; it can reach targets anywhere except for America and Australia. This would allow it to strike all India’s potential adversaries, even as friendly capitals in Western Europe and the US stay out of range. DRDO sources say that, in case of need, the Agni-5 could easily be ramped up into an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), with a range of more than 5500 kilometres.
Unlike earlier discussions on Agni missile range where there is a general belief in forums such as this that official range quoted is a downgraded one, for this missile there is an open talk that 5500 km range restriction is mainly not to upset certain powers.
Further, people in the know are whispering that the same configuration that was tested today can go more than 7500 km. Gents, this is indeed a true ICBM. We have indeed gate-crashed into the ICBM class.
Can anyone notice the perceptible difference in the acceleration of Agni V compared to Agni 3 in its first test?