There are only seven countries in the world that possess Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) and India is one of them

New Delhi: There was a time when Western powers never imagined India could have any need for an intercontinental ballistic missile, in a partially declassified CIA intelligence report from 1990, the US said, "We see little benefit to India of developing an ICBM-class (more than 5,500 km) missile."

Well, it's 2023 and times have changed. There are only seven countries in the world that possess Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) and India is one of them. Not just this, India is on course to create its own rocket force as well.

Here’s a look at India’s upcoming missiles:

'K' Missiles: India’s submarine-launched ballistic missile, name K-5 (K stands for ‘Kalam’), with a range of 5,000 km is currently under development. Reports suggest, that with the emergence of the S4 and S4* Class of submarines, K-5 developmental trials will start soon.

The 'Agni' Missiles: Agni which means ‘fire’ is an Indian missile series. Agni-Prime is India’s next-generation nuclear ballistic missile which India has successfully tested already. It is 10.5 metres tall and can carry warheads up to 1.5 tons. The missile range is between 1,000-2,000 kilometres.

The 'Akash NG': The ‘Akash’ meaning sky, is the name of an indigenous Indian surface-to-air missile. This new generation Akash missile known as Akash-NG is a successor to the Akash One series with improvements in kill and range. It is built to boost the Indian Air Force defence system and can intercept high manoeuvring aerial threats like fighter jets, cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles. Vietnam has been closely monitoring the development of the Akash-NG and is already eager to procure it. They are currently using the Israeli SPYDER-SR-MR.

The BrahMos Sequels: Coming next in the BrahMos series is the Brahmos’ next generation, which will be half the weight (approx. 1.33 tons) of BrahMos and smaller in size. It is being developed for TEJAS and would significantly bolster the combat capability of the aircraft. It will have a range of 290 kilometres and a speed of Mach 3.5.

Then there is the Brahmos 2 which is coming up as well – it will be India’s Hypersonic version of the Brahmos that will have a range of 600 kilometres with a speed of Mach 8.