Fire) is a family of medium to intercontinental range ballistic missiles developed by India, named after one of the five elements of nature.

It was designated as a special programme in India's defence budget and provided adequate funds for subsequent development.

[1] The latest missile test occurred on 13 July 2012, when India test-fired Agni I successfully at Abdul Kalam Island off Orissa coast.

[25] On 11 April 2014 the missile was test fired for the first time in a night trial exercise to its full range of 700 km from the Wheeler island off the Odisha coast.

India stated that its nuclear and missile development programmes are not Pakistan-centric, that the Pakistani threat is only a marginal factor in New Delhi's security calculus, and that Agni is at the heart of deterrence in the larger context of Sino-Indian equation.

[30] The 2000 km range nuclear weapon capable missile, already inducted into the country's arsenal, was successfully launched as a training exercise by the Strategic Forces Command on 9 August 2012.

[33] India successfully conducted the first night trial of nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missile Agni-II from the Abdul Kalam Island of the Odisha coast at 16 Nov 2019.

This was the third consecutive test; it validated the missile's operational readiness while extending the reach of India's nuclear deterrent to the most high-value targets of the nation's most likely adversaries.

Older ballistic missiles, such as those deployed by earlier nuclear powers required larger yield (1–2 megaton) warheads to achieve the same level of lethality.

[37] Agni-IV was first tested on 15 November 2011 and 19 September 2012 from Wheeler Island off the coast of the eastern state of Orissa for its full range of 4,000 km.

The missile lifted off from a road-mobile launcher at 11.48 a.m. and after climbing to an altitude of over 800 km, it re-entered the atmosphere and impacted near the pre-designated target in the Indian Ocean with a remarkable degree of accuracy following a 20-minute flight.

Agni IV is equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, that include indigenously developed ring laser gyro and composite rocket motor.

[4][23][24] In May 2008 Indian scientists announced they had developed and patented a path-breaking technology that increases the range of missiles and satellite launch vehicles by at least 40%.

[48] The enhanced range is made possible by adding a special-purpose coating of chromium-based material to a rocket's blunt nose cone.