RN Agarwal, ‘Father of Agni missile’, passes away in Hyderabad

Served as Agni programme director and also as director of Advanced Systems Laboratory in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: RN Agarwal, regarded as the father of Agni missiles in the country, passed away here. He was 84.

Agarwal, a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, died on Thursday following mild old-age related ailments, DRDO sources said.

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He had served as the Agni programme director and also as the director of Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) in Hyderabad.

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam, the ‘Missile Man’ of India, had started the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) and Agni was a key programme in it, the sources said.

Agarwal was instrumental in initiating the Agni series of missiles, they said.