An insight into countries possessing ballistic missiles

There are 31 countries that possess ballistic missiles.These missiles, initially powered by rockets, follow a free falling trajectory towards their targets and are classified according to their maximum range.

At present, there are only 11 countries, including India that have operational ballistic missile witha strike range exceeding 1,000km.

Only five countries - the US, Russia, UK, France and China - have intercontinental missiles with a range of over 5,500km.

In 2012, India successfully tested Agni V, which has a range of 5,500km - the longest for any missile.