<p>Padma Bhushan awardee and outstanding aerospace scientist, Dr Ram Narain Agarwal, who was instrumental in the development of India's long-range <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/news/world-news/article/latest-israeli-strikes-kill-at-least-17-in-gaza-overnight-palestinians-say-23375396" target="_blank" rel="none noopener"><strong>missile</strong></a>, Agni passed away on Thursday after a brief illness.</p>
<p>He was 83 and is survived by his wife and two children.</p>
<p>Dr Agarwal led the country's ambitious Agni missile programme for over two decades right from its beginning in 1983 as Project Director.</p>
<p>He inspired the team to successfully test the Technology demonstrator missile in May 1989.</p>
<p>Thereafter, various versions of the 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 kms.</p>
<p>Dr Agarwal retired as the founder and director of the Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), Hyderabad in 2005.</p>
<p>He was a distinguished Scientist of the <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/news/india-news/article/drdo-conducts-successful-flight-test-of-indigenous-technology-cruise-missile-off-odisha-coast-23344933" target="_blank" rel="none noopener"><strong>Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)</strong></a> and worked on the Agni and other missile programmes alongside Dr Arunachalam and Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Dr Agarwal played a key role in establishing the re-entry technology, all composite heat shield, onboard propulsion system, guidance and control etc for missiles during a distinguished tenure of 22 years.</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">RN Agarwal, the man who guided India's Agni missile development programme right from its inception in 1983 till 2005, has just passed away. The country owes him a huge debt for his technological and managerial leadership. Befittingly, his contributions were to be acknowledged in&hellip;</p>
&mdash; Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/1824096420468527448?ref_src=twsrc-Etfw">August 15, 2024</a></blockquote>
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<p>In 1995 he was appointed Programme Director of Agni for weaponisation and deployment of Agni 2. Within 4 years in 1999, Dr Agarwal and team established the new version with road-mobile launch capability too with enhanced strike distance from Agni-1.</p>
<p>In subsequent years, the demonstration of the powerful Agni-3 missile weapon system has put India into a select club of countries with nuclear-capable missile power of long-range with strengths in indigenously developing all systems.</p>
<p>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 others were --Prithvi, Akash, Nag and Trishul.</p>
<p>Dr Agarwal won many laurels for his contributions. Among these are the Lifetime Achievement Award 2004 for contributions to the field of aerospace and Agni by the Prime Minister; the DRDO Technology Leadership Award, Chandrasekhara Saraswati National Eminence Award along with PM, PV Narasimha Rao and Bharat Ratna M S Subbalaxmi and the Biren Roy Space Sciences Award.</p>
<p>He was conferred the Padma Sri in 1990 and Padma Bhushan in 2000 by the President of India.</p>
<p>Born in Jaipur into a traders family on July 24, 1941, Dr Agarwal did his Aeronautical Engineering from MIT, Guindy and Masters from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He obtained a doctorate from the University of Rajasthan.</p>
<p>He was a member of various national academies and delivered lectures on self-reliance and missile technology at various forums. He was a fellow of the Aeronautical Society of India and the National Academy of Engineering.</p>
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Dr Ram Narain Agarwal, who was instrumental in the development of India`s long-range missile, Agni passed away after a brief illness

Dr Ram Narain Agarwal, Indian missile scientist behind Agni development, passes away

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Dr Agarwal led the country's ambitious Agni missile programme for over two decades right from its beginning in 1983 as Project Director

RN Agarwal, missile scientist behind Agni development, passes away

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