India is souping up its nuclear missiles

To an idle observer on Abdul Kalam Island, an Indian territory in the Bay of Bengal, the missile that shot into the sky on March 11th was little different from scores of similar launches that have occurred there since the 1980s. A more discerning bystander might have noted that it was the tenth test of the Agni V, India’s first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), capable of reaching any part of China. But even the most astute missile-watcher would not have known the significance of the launch, which lay inside the nose cone.