Agni-5 is a counter to China’s nuclear expansion, but India can’t stop at MIRVing

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MIRVing permits a single missile to carry several warheads that can be aimed at multiple targets several hundred kilometres apart. Another advantage is that it enables carrying additional decoy warheads that can help defeat ballistic missile defences (BMDs). This is not an immediate concern because none of the currently operational BMDs can effectively counter ICBM-range missiles. Although the US has deployed its Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, its effectiveness against anything more than one or two ICBMs at a time is questionable. Of course, no country is likely to fire just a couple of ICBMs at a time, making its...