Dr Ram Narain Agarwal played a key role in the development of India’s long-range missile, Agni.
Hyderabad: Outstanding aerospace scientist and Padma Bhushan awardee, Dr Ram Narain Agarwal passed away on Thursday, 15 August 2024 after a brief illness. He was 83 and is survived by his wife.
Dr. Ram Narain Agarwal was instrumental in the development of India’s long-range missile, Agni. He spearheaded the nation’s ambitious Agni missile program for more than twenty years, starting as the Project Director in 1983.
Dr Agarwal inspired his team to successfully test the Technology Demonstrator Missile in May 1989 following which several versions of the Agni missile were developed and inducted into the defence forces. Today, Agni V, the nuclear-capable, intermediate-range ballistic missile has the capability to strike targets beyond 5000 km.
Dr Agarwal retired as the founder and director of the Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), Hyderabad in 2005.
In addition, he was a prominent scientist at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), contributing to the Agni and other missile programs with Dr. Arunachalam and Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam over an illustrious 22-year career.
He became the Programme Director for the Agni missile’s weaponisation and was responsible for the deployment of Agni 2 in 1995. By 1999, just four years later, he and his team had developed an upgraded version with road-mobile launch capability and an increased strike range beyond that of Agni-1.
Subsequently, the demonstration of the powerful Agni-3 missile weapon system put India into a select club of countries with nuclear-capable missile power of long-range with strengths in indigenously developing all systems.
It is worth noting that the Agni missile was the most ambitious of the 5 missiles sought to be developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme launched in 1983 by the Government of India.
The other missiles are Prithvi, Akash, Nag, and Trishul.
Dr Agarwal has many achievements against his name for his astonishing contributions to the country’s defence sector.
He was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award 2004 for contributions to the field of aerospace and Agni by the Prime Minister; the DRDO Technology Leadership Award, and Chandrasekhara Saraswati National Eminence Award.
He was conferred the Padma Shree in 1990 and Padma Bhushan in 2000.
He was born in Jaipur into a trader family on July 24, 1941.
He completed his Aeronautical Engineering from MIT, Guindy and Masters from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He obtained a doctorate from the University of Rajasthan.