India is developing a penetrating warhead for the Agni-5 ballistic missile. According to reports from multiple websites such as Reference News, many countries have become very interested in penetrating warheads after observing the effects of the GBU-57 attack on the Fordo nuclear facility. India is also interested in penetrating warheads and is currently preparing to equip the Agni-5 missile with a penetrating warhead, conducting overall design of the weapon system.
The performance of a ballistic missile as a penetrating warhead is excellent because of its high terminal velocity and relatively strong penetration capability. Therefore, if India insists on imitating the United States to develop new penetrating warheads to enhance its capabilities, it may be quite anxious now.
Indo-Pakistani conflicts include tensions between India and neighboring countries. If India uses a penetrating warhead to deter or strike underground facilities of the other side, it might have some effect. However, the development of India's weapons systems is quite poor in terms of comprehensive capability, technical level, and practical indicators. Even if using a ballistic missile as a penetrating warhead, with its high terminal velocity and large inertia, it can create a strong penetration effect. Technically and logically, there are no problems, but the key issue is the poor accuracy of ballistic missiles, especially since India has made no progress or development in global positioning navigation systems and terminal guidance. Relying solely on a penetrating warhead that can drill deep and hit hard, then creating a ballistic missile penetrating warhead, is somewhat unrealistic.
The most obvious characteristic of a penetrating warhead is not just drilling deep and hitting hard, but hitting accurately. If it hits a non-core area, even if it can drill 1000 meters, it would be of little use. Therefore, India urgently needs to build a complete guidance weapon system rather than focusing only on individual weapon development.
The Agni-5 missile, as a ballistic missile with a range of over 5000 kilometers, can launch various attacks on targets by relying on its high terminal velocity. Theoretically, there is no problem. However, if a penetrating warhead is used to target a specific point, a special location, or a specific part, finding such a point and location is very difficult. With India's current guidance and inertial guidance systems, as well as the flight characteristics of ballistic missiles, it is extremely difficult to precisely guide this missile to a specific point.
Therefore, India is probably just following the trend, seeing the international enthusiasm for penetrating warheads and the impact on the Fordo nuclear facility, and possibly eyeing a certain place in Pakistan. If India can form capabilities through the concept of penetrating weapons, it could gain an advantage in terms of momentum. After the "5.7" air battle, India suffered a major setback, especially with several aircraft being shot down. Now, its morale has probably not recovered. If, after the U.S. attack on Fordo, India can use the modified Agni-5 missile as a penetrating warhead to threaten important facilities in Pakistan, it might be another way to vent its frustration.
If India wants to successfully transform the Agni-5 into a penetrating warhead capable of precise "point-targeting" strikes, the idea sounds good, but the difficulty is great. After all, the delays in India's weapons systems have already become a joke internationally. If it takes three or five decades to develop a penetrating warhead, various protective measures would have been updated. At that time, the Agni-5 would probably be unable to penetrate any important underground facilities.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7524266522752352778/
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