Agni missile falls into Army’s kitty

‘‘Similarly sea-to-sea, sea-to-surface and surface-to-sea missiles will be controlled by the Navy while the air-to-air, air-to-ground and long range surface-to-air missiles will be with the Air Force,’’ sources said. However, nobody in the government is willing to comment on how long it will take for the Agni missile to be inducted into the Army.

The Army and Air Force have had a bitter tussle over the control of the missiles. ‘‘When the issue of the induction of Prithvi short range ballistic missile was raised, it was decided that the 150 km range version Prithvi will be with the Army and the 250 km range version will go to the IAF. Last heard about six years ago, the user trials of the 250 km range missile were underway. Nobody is talking as to what happened after that,’’ says a senior defence analyst.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has carried out only one test on the 700 km range version of the medium range ballistic missile. ‘‘The intermediate range (1,500 km and and 2,500 km) missile will also go to the Army since all surface-to-surface missiles are to be handled by the Army,’’ MoD sources added.

The Air Force, however, feels that since it has all the strategic strike, reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities, the strategic assets should have come to them. ‘‘Missiles are never developed with service in mind. Since we believe in the doctrine of no first use, the survivability of the assets and command and control system are paramount. Only the Air Force and, to an extent, the Navy can ensure that. Therefore, it is incorrect to hand over strategic assets to the Army because it is the single largest force. That is also why the strategic command is to be shared between the Navy and Air Force,’’ a senior said.