India test fires 700 km range Agni-I missile

Sharpening its missile prowess, India on Wednesday successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear capable Agni-I ballistic missile with a strike range of 700 km from a test range off Odisha coast.

The surface-to-surface missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher at about 0830 hrs from launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Wheeler Island, about 100 km from Balasore in Odisha, defence sources said.

Describing the test as successful, ITR Director MVKV Prasad said, "It was a practice trial conducted by the Strategic Force Command of the Indian Army."

Agni-I, a single-stage missile powered by solid propellants, has a specialised navigation system which ensures that it reaches the target with a high degree of accuracy and precision, a defence scientist said.

Weighing 12 tonnes, the 15-metre-long Agni-I, which is capable of carrying payloads up to 1000 kg, has already been inducted into the Indian Army.

Agni-I has been developed by advanced systems laboratory, the premier missile development laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation in collaboration with Defence Research Development Laboratory and Research Centre Imarat and integrated by Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad.

The last trial of the Agni-I missile was successfully carried out on July 13, 2012 from the same test range.