Agni-5: Specs and features of India's newly-tested nuke-capable missile

India successfully completed its test fire launch of the Agni-5 missile, a weapon that is capable of carrying New Delhi's nuclear war heads as far as Europe. The launch was completed on Wednesday as India goes through a diplomatic policy rejig.

This is what the Ministry of Defence said in a statement: Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile Agni 5 was successfully test-fired from the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur in Odisha on August 20, 2025. The launch validated all operational and technical parameters. It was carried out under the aegis of the Strategic Forces Command.

The specifications and capabilities of the newly-tested weapon have also been a cut above the rest.

Defence experts have said the Agni-5 missile is central to India's security strategy in the coming years. That is probably why its range has been extended exponentially compared to its predecessors. The Agni-1 and Agni-4 variants of the missile reportedly can cover distances of 700 to 3,500 kilometres. But the latest version can cause damage up to 5,000 kilometres from its launchpad.

This means that the entire Asian continent and some regions of eastern Europe within the missile's range.

The Agni-5 is one of a number of indigenously produced short- and medium-range Indian ballistic missiles aimed at boosting its defence posture against Pakistan, as well as China.

India and China, the world's two most populous nations, are intense rivals competing for influence across South Asia and relations plummeted in 2020 after a deadly border clash.

Last October, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping for the first time in five years at a summit in Russia.

The Indian prime minister is now expected to make his first visit to China since 2018 later this month to attend the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) -- a regional security bloc.

The testing comes just months after India launched 'Operation Sindoor' against Pakistan-based terror camps, which New Delhi said were behind a deadly civilian attack in India's Kashmir.

India is also caught in global trade and geopolitical turbulence triggered by US President Donald Trump's tariff war. Ties between New Delhi and Washington have been strained by Trump's ultimatum over India’s purchases of Russian oil.

The United States says it will double new import tariffs on India from 25 percent to 50 percent by August 27 if New Delhi does not switch crude suppliers.