India successfully tested another of its Agni-5, an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead into China.
India’s Strategic Forces Command (SFC) launched the missile in August 2025 from a test range in the state of Odisha. India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) developed the Agni-5, which has a range of more than 5,000 kilometers, putting it well within reach of neighboring China and Pakistan, according to The Times of India newspaper. India has long-standing disputes with both nations, which have led to deadly clashes over the years.
The launch followed a 2024 test of an Agni-5 equipped for the first time with a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV), the newspaper reported. A MIRV enables a single missile to carry multiple nuclear warheads. Currently, the SFC has only single-warhead ballistic missiles, according to the newspaper.
“While the 2025 test focused on standard configurations, it builds on these [MIRV] innovations, ensuring the system’s readiness for real-world scenarios,” noted an article in The National Interest magazine.
Such scenarios could include a submarine-launched version of the three-stage Agni-5, according to analysts.
“With India working on different variants of Agni with multiple capabilities, this test was a technological demonstrator for India’s emerging submarine-launched ballistic missile capability,” Mansoor Ahmed, of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at Australian National University, told the Al Jazeera news network in August 2025.
“India’s requirement for a long-range, but not intercontinental, missile is dictated by its threat perception of China,” Dr. Manpreet Sethi, a distinguished fellow at New Delhi’s Centre for Aerospace Power and Strategic Studies, told Al Jazeera.
The DRDO is developing an upgraded variant of the Agni-5 with a range of 7,500 kilometers, The Times of India reported. Ballistic missiles are classified by their maximum range, with only those that can exceed 5,500 kilometers considered to be intercontinental, according to the Arms Control Association.
“India is playing catch-up as [China’s] People’s Liberation Army expands its arsenal and tensions continue to simmer along their disputed [Himalayan] border,” United States-based broadcaster CNN reported in August 2025.
China has about 600 nuclear warheads, while India has 180, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
The latest Agni-5 test came just before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in September 2025. “India has been developing [the missile] as part of its nuclear deterrence capability against China,” Sethi told Al Jazeera.
Sentry is a professional military magazine published by U.S. Strategic Command to provide a forum for national security personnel.
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