UKPSC Prelims 2024 General Studies Paper-I · Question 93 of 147

Correct — A, MIRV Technology.

Mission Divyastra was the name DRDO gave to the first flight test of the indigenously developed Agni-5 missile fitted with MIRV Technology. The test took place on 11 March 2024 from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast, and telemetry and radar stations tracked several re-entry vehicles coming off one missile.

MIRV stands for Multiple Independently targetable Re-entry Vehicle. The idea to remember is that one missile can deploy several warheads at different locations: after the boost phase, each re-entry vehicle is released on its own path towards its own target.

So the question is not about which missile flew but about what the flight proved. Agni-5 had flown before; what was new in Divyastra was the multi-warhead payload, and that is why the keyed option is the technology, not a missile family or a ground vehicle.

• (b)
  Prithvi Missile System — Prithvi is a short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile and the first missile to come out of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. Its launches are routine user trials, and the missile carries a single warhead, so it is unrelated to the multi-warhead demonstration on Agni-5.

  Prithvi is the right answer to a question on the first missile developed under the IGMDP, or on short-range ballistic missiles fired from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur.

• (c)
  Mounted Gun System — The Mounted Gun System is a DRDO artillery project: a 155 mm/52-calibre gun carried on a high-mobility truck so that it can fire and move quickly. It is an army land system, not a missile flight test; the Divyastra codename belongs to the Agni-5 MIRV flight.

  It is the right answer to a question on DRDO's truck-mounted 155 mm/52-calibre artillery gun.

• (d)
  Reconnaissance Vehicle (wheeled) — A wheeled reconnaissance vehicle is an armoured ground platform built to scout and survey the battlefield. It belongs to land-systems development and moves on roads and tracks, a long way from a strategic missile payload.

  It is the right answer to a question on armoured wheeled land platforms for battlefield reconnaissance, a different branch of defence technology from strategic missiles.

MIRV, Multiple Independently targetable Re-entry Vehicle, is a way of arming a ballistic missile. Instead of one warhead, the missile carries several re-entry vehicles, and each can be aimed at a separate target.

During flight the upper stage or post-boost vehicle releases the re-entry vehicles one by one, adjusting its heading between releases. Each vehicle then follows its own ballistic path and re-enters the atmosphere over its own target.

The practical effect is that one launcher covers several targets, and a defender must intercept many objects rather than one. That is why MIRV capability is treated as a marker of a mature strategic missile programme.

• Mission Divyastra was DRDO's first flight test of the indigenously developed Agni-5 missile with MIRV technology, conducted on 11 March 2024.
• The test was carried out from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha; telemetry and radar stations tracked the multiple re-entry vehicles.
• MIRV lets a single missile deploy several warheads at different locations, each re-entry vehicle following its own path after release.
• The system uses indigenous avionics and high-accuracy sensor packages so that the re-entry vehicles reach their target points within the desired accuracy.
• DRDO stated that the project had a woman Project Director and significant contribution from women, and that India joined the select group of nations with MIRV capability.
• Agni-5 is a long-range, solid-fuelled, surface-to-surface ballistic missile with a range above 5,000 km; its first flight test was in April 2012.
• Mission Shakti, on 27 March 2019, was DRDO's anti-satellite test, in which an interceptor destroyed a live satellite in low Earth orbit.
• Prithvi was the first missile of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme and is a short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile.

• Reading the question as 'which missile' and hunting for Agni among the options; the option list names a technology, and MIRV is that technology.
• Swapping the two DRDO codenames: Mission Shakti is the 2019 anti-satellite test, Mission Divyastra the 2024 Agni-5 MIRV flight.
• Picking Prithvi because it is the most familiar missile name on the list; Prithvi is short-range and single-warhead, unrelated to the Agni-5 MIRV test.
• Treating Divyastra as the first flight of Agni-5 itself; the missile first flew in 2012, and 2024 was its first flight with MIRV.
• Stretching 'select group of nations' into 'first in South Asia'; Pakistan described its Ababeel test of January 2017 as MIRV-capable.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under Mission Divyastra, conducted in March 2024, which of the following missiles made its first flight with MIRV technology?

  • (a)Agni-5
  • (b)Agni-Prime
  • (c)Prithvi-II
  • (d)K-4
  Answera — Mission Divyastra was DRDO's first flight test of the indigenously developed Agni-5 with Multiple Independently targetable Re-entry Vehicle technology, launched from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island on 11 March 2024.

  Agni-Prime is a newer, shorter-range Agni-class missile and was not the Divyastra vehicle. Prithvi-II is a short-range single-warhead ballistic missile. K-4 is a submarine-launched ballistic missile, tested from the sea, not the vehicle named in the Divyastra announcement.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In the context of India's missile programme, the abbreviation MIRV stands for:

  • (a)Multiple Independently targetable Re-entry Vehicle
  • (b)Multi-Impact Rocket Vehicle
  • (c)Manoeuvrable Intermediate-Range Vehicle
  • (d)Multiple Integrated Reconnaissance Vehicle
  Answera — MIRV is Multiple Independently targetable Re-entry Vehicle: one missile carries several re-entry vehicles, each aimed at a separate target.

  Option b is an invented expansion; a re-entry vehicle is not a rocket. Option c mixes in 'intermediate-range', which describes a missile's reach, not its payload. Option d borrows 'reconnaissance', a surveillance term, which is not what the acronym describes.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Consider the following pairs: 1. Mission Shakti — anti-satellite missile test 2. Mission Divyastra — Agni-5 flight with MIRV technology 3. Mission Divyastra — trial of a truck-mounted 155 mm artillery gun Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

  • (a)1 only
  • (b)1 and 2 only
  • (c)2 and 3 only
  • (d)1, 2 and 3
  Answerb — Mission Shakti (27 March 2019) was DRDO's anti-satellite test, and Mission Divyastra (11 March 2024) was the first Agni-5 flight with MIRV, so pairs 1 and 2 are correct.

  Pair 3 attaches the Divyastra name to DRDO's Mounted Gun System, an artillery project with no link to the MIRV flight test, so it is wrong. That rules out options c and d, and option a wrongly drops the correct pair 2.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  With reference to Mission Divyastra, consider the following statements: 1. It demonstrated that a single missile can deliver several warheads to different locations. 2. The flight test was conducted from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha. 3. It was the first-ever flight test of the Agni-5 missile. Which of the statements given above are correct?

  • (a)1 and 2 only
  • (b)2 and 3 only
  • (c)1 and 3 only
  • (d)1, 2 and 3
  Answera — Statement 1 is the definition of the MIRV capability that Divyastra proved, and statement 2 matches the official release, which names Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha as the launch site.

  Statement 3 is wrong: Agni-5 first flew in April 2012, and Divyastra in March 2024 was its first flight with MIRV, not its first flight. Options b, c and d each carry statement 3 and therefore fail.