RAS question
Agni-I missile has an approximate range of:
Correct answer: (D) 700 km.
Agni-I is an Indian ballistic missile with an approximate range of 700 km.
Explanation
Agni-I is India's 700 km range ballistic missile, which makes 700 km the best match among the options. The Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Defence release says the missile was successfully launched from Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha, followed the prescribed trajectory, and reached the target point in the Bay of Bengal. Agni-I is an operational ballistic missile, already in the arsenal of the Indian Armed Forces, and associated with Strategic Forces Command training. Agni-I falls in the 700-900 km band and is a single-stage, solid-fuelled missile with road-mobile and rail-mobile capability.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 5000 km belongs to the Agni-V range category, so it overstates Agni-I's approximate range by a wide margin.
- (B) 150 km is associated with Prithvi-I, not Agni-I, and is far below the 700 km range stated for Agni-I in the PIB release.
- (C) 2000 km corresponds to Agni-II, not to Agni-I's 700-900 km range band.
Concept
This tests missile-system ranges under Science and Technology, especially the ability to distinguish India's ballistic missile families by capability. RAS often asks such defence-technology facts because they connect current national security developments with static science-and-technology classification.