The user trial of the nuclear-capable, surface-to-surface Agni-1 ballistic missile was carried out successfully on Tuesday from the Abdul Kalam Island here by the specially-raised India’s Strategic Forces Command at around 10.10 am as a part of training exercise.
Under the supervision of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists the single-stage, solid-propelled missile was launched by the personnel from a mobile launcher of launch Complex (lC) -IV.
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, said sources.
The last trial of the Agni-I missile was successfully carried out on March 14 from the same base.
Agni-1 weighs 12 tonnes and is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead up to one tonne. The 15 metre long missile carried a dummy warhead and the flight duration was about 10 minutes when the missile reached its target in the Bay of Bengal.
.The indigenous missile developed by advanced systems laboratory, the premier missile development laboratory of the DRDO in collaboration with Defence Research Development laboratory and Research Centre and integrated by Bharat Dynamics limited, Hyderabad. The missile which has been already inducted into the armed forces has proved worthy in terms of its range and accuracy. The home grown missile having a range about 700 km was randomly picked up from the production lot for the user test.