India has begun constructing its own version of the US ‘bunker buster’ bomb, recently used to knock out Iran’s underground nuclear facilites.
A new vesion of the powerful Agni-5 missile has been designed to destroy enemy targets burrowed deep beneath the Earth using a huge warhead that can hit buried targets.
According to India Today, the government’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has modified the intercontinental ballistic missile to create its own bunker buster.
This revamped weapon will be fitted with a 7,500kg warhead, capable of penetrating as deep as the US model. This announcement follows the brief, three-day conflict between India and its geopolitical rival Pakistan in May.
India launched airstrikes on Pakistan as part of Operation Sindoor in response to a terror attack carried out in the Indian-controlled region of Kashmir, which killed 26 people.
The latest development would be a significant increase to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s arsenal capabilities, giving his country the ability to target highly fortified command centres, missile silos, and nuclear infrastructure.
The Indian variation is reportedly a missile-based system, offering greater flexibility and faster response time to the U.S. bomb, which relied on the expensive B-2 Spirit bomber, estimated to cost $2bn per aircraft.
India Today continues to report that there are two versions of the missile in the works: an airburst variant for striking above-ground targets and a deep-penetration version, targeting underground infrastructure.
Both models are predicted to feature hypersonic speed, reaching between Mach 8 and Mach 20 speeds.
But, to account for a more accurate strike capability, they are also understood to feature a reduced range of around 2,500km.