Giving a boost to its Defence capabilities, India on Friday successfully test-fired indigenously built Agni Prime missile off the Odisha coast in Balasore. The missile has a range between 1,000 km to 2,000 km and can carry nuclear warheads.
This weapon is a new generation missile built by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The sleek missile was test fired from a mobile launcher from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island around 9.45 am, officials here said.
The solid-fuelled canisterised missile met all mission parameters during the test. All its navigation was tracked and monitored by radars and telemetry equipment positioned along various points.
The last trial of the missile was conducted on December 18 last year from the same base, which was also successful, officials said adding all test objectives were met and said that the third consecutive (and successful) test of the ‘Agni Prime’ had ‘established the accuracy and reliability of the system’. Performance was validated using data obtained by many tracking systems, including radar, telemetry and electro-optical systems, the officials said.
These systems were deployed at different locations along the flight path, including two down-range ships at the terminal point, and covered the entire trajectory, officials added.The first test was in June last year, with the second six months later - in December. On both those occasions too the missile ‘followed textbook trajectory and met all mission objectives with a high level of accuracy’, officials said.
The two-stage missile weighs nearly 50 per cent less than the Agni 3 missile besides having new guidance and propulsion systems. It can be fired from rail or road.