R N Agarwal, India's Agni Missile Man passes away

New Delhi: RN Agarwal, Indian missile scientist behind the development of Agni, passed away after brief illness. He was 83. Agarwal was instrumental in India's Agni missile development programme right from its inception in 1983 till 2005.

The long-range Agni missile attracted global attention as it catapulted India into a very select club of nations like the US, Russsia, China and France, which have the missile capability. Today, the Agni V has a range of over 5000 km and India is among the top nations in missile technology. A P J Abdul Kalam, former President and India’s ‘Missile Man’ was the Chief of the IGMDP (Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme), under which the Agni missile was the crown jewel.

The IGMDP developed 5 missiles–Agni, Prithvi, Akash, Nag and Trishul. Dr V S Arunachalam, chief of the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) then strongly supported the IGMDP. Born in Jaipur into a traders’ family, Agarwal did Aeronautical Engineering at the Madras Institute of Technology (MIT), Guindy and a doctorate from the Indian Institute of Sciences Bangalore. Dr Agarwal came to Hyderabad in the early 1960s to join the DRDL (Defence Research and Development Laboratory). The short-statured, sharp and temperamental leader was respected for his vision, commitment and delivery of targets.