With China in Range, India Fires N-Capable Agni-V

Dhamara: India on Thursday conducted a successful test-fire of its indigenously developed nuclear capable Agni-V ballistic missile with a strike range of over 5,000 km from a test range off Odisha coast.

"The mission was successful. The missile hit the target in Indian Ocean in a perfect way," chief of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), VK Saraswat said.

The three stage, solid propellant missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher from launch complex-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Wheeler Island near here at about 8:05am, defence sources said, describing the successful trial as a milestone in India's missile programme.

After the maiden launch, the Agni-V witnessed a smooth and perfect vertical lift-off from the launcher and thorough analysis was done to assess its health parametres after retrieval of data from all a wide range of sophisticated communication network systems, they said.

The test-fire of the first of its kind missile, which was originally scheduled to be held on Wednesday, had to be postponed at the last moment due to bad weather marked by rains and heavy lightning for safety reasons, sources said.

The successful trial of Agni-V, considered by many to be having the features of Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), demonstrated giant strides taken by India in its integrated missile development programme.

Only the United States, Russia, France and China possess the capability to operate an ICBM at present.