‘Missile woman’ to head Agni-V too

It’s indeed rocket science. And Tessy Thomas is going great guns at unravelling all its complexities. Although women and nuclear-capable ballistic missiles usually don’t go together, Thomas is systematically breaking all glass ceilings in the avowedly male bastion of ‘strategic weapons’.

Thomas has now been appointed the project director (mission) of India’s most ambitious missile, Agni-V, which has a strike range of 5,000 km and which is slated to be tested for the first time next year. Thomas, 46, was made the project director of the new advanced version of the 2,500-km Agni-II missile last year after she played a crucial role in the successful firing of the 3,500-km range Agni-III missile as an associate project director, as reported by TOI earlier.

Now, she has added another feather to her cap by being assigned the Agni-V, the test-firing of which will propel India towards having potent ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) capabilities, largely the preserve of the Big 5 countries until now.

Thomas did her BTech from Thrissur Engineering College and her MTech from the Pune-based Defence Institute of Advanced Technologies.