Balasore: India Tuesday successfully test-fired indigenously built nuclear capable Agni-I ballistic missile, which can hit a target 700 km away, as part of a user trial by the Army from a test range off Orissa coast.
The surface-to-surface missile, powered by solid propellants, was test-fired from a mobile launcher at 10.10 AM from launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range at Abdul Kalam Island (formerly known as Wheeler Island), defence officials said.
Describing the trial as successful, they said the launch of the intermediate range single-stage missile was “part of a training exercise by the Strategic Forces Command of Indian Army.”
“The launch was undertaken as periodic training activity by SFC to further consolidate operational readiness,” they said.
The trajectory of the trial was tracked by a battery of sophisticated radars, telemetry observation stations, electro-optic instruments and naval ships from its launch till the missile hit the target area with accuracy, they added.
Agni-I is equipped with sophisticated navigation system which ensures it reaches the target with a high degree of accuracy and precision. The missile, which has already been inducted into the armed forces, has proved its excellent performance in terms of range, accuracy and lethality, defence officials said.
Weighing 12 tonnes, the 15-metre-long Agni-I is designed to carry a payload of more than one tonne. Its strike range can be extended by reducing the payload.
Agni-I was developed by a premier missile development laboratory of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) in collaboration with Defence Research Development Laboratory and Research Centre Imarat and integrated by Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad.
The last trial of Agni-I missile was conducted successfully March 14, 2016 from the same base. PNN