Indigenously built ballistic missile Agni-I test-fired off Odisha coast

BHUBANESWAR: India on Tuesday successfully test-fired indigenously built nuclear capable Agni-I ballistic missile from an Interim Test Range (ITR) off Odisha 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 ITR at Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island), defence officials said.

The missile was fired under supervision of the scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). 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, DRDO sources.

The last trial of the Agni-I missile was successfully carried out on March 14 from the same base. Weighing about 12 tonnes, the 700-km range missile is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead up to one tonne.

The 15-metre long missile carried dummy war head and the flight duration was about 10 minutes when the missile landed at its target in the Bay of Bengal.

Developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), in collaboration with Defence Research Development Laboratory and Research Centre and integrated by Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad, Agni-I has already been inducted into the Army and has proved worthy in terms of it range and accuracy.