India tests advanced Agni missile from Odisha coast

India on Saturday announced the successful flight-test of an Advanced Agni missile equipped with a Multiple Independently Targeted Re-Entry Vehicle (MIRV) system, marking a major boost to the country’s strategic defence capabilities. The missile was tested from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast on Friday.

The missile was flight-tested with multiple payloads aimed at different targets spread across a large geographical area in the Indian Ocean Region. The MIRV feature ensures that a single missile can deploy multiple warheads at different locations. The missile system was tested on Friday, according to the Defence Ministry. “India conducted the successful flight-trial of an advanced Agni Missile with Multiple Independently Targeted Re-Entry Vehicle (MIRV) system from APJ Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha on May 8,” it said.

Agni-5 missile has a range of up to 5,000 km. The Agni 1 to 4 missiles have ranges from 700 km to 3,500 km, and they have already been deployed.

In April 2024, India successfully carried out the maiden flight trial of an endo-atmospheric interceptor missile from a ship off the coast of Odisha in the Bay of Bengal as part of its ambitious ballistic missile defence programme.

The missile was flight-tested with multiple payloads, targeted to different targets spatially distributed over a large geographical area in the Indian Ocean Region, it added.

The Government said telemetry and tracking operations were carried out through multiple ground-based and ship-based stations, which monitored the missile’s trajectory from launch until the impact of all payloads. “Flight data confirmed that all mission objectives were met during the trial,” the Government said.

The successful test demonstrated India’s capability to engage multiple strategic targets using a single missile system through MIRV technology, which allows one missile to carry and deliver several warheads to separate targets. The missile has been developed by laboratories under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) with support from industries across the country. The trial was witnessed by senior scientists of DRDO and the Indian Army personnel.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO, the Indian Army and industry partners for the successful test. Singh said the achievement would add “an incredible capability” to India’s defence preparedness amid evolving security challenges and growing threat perceptions.

The test comes as India continues to strengthen its strategic deterrence capabilities and expand indigenous defence technologies under its domestic military modernisation push. The exclusion zone declared before the launch stretched approximately 3,560 km over the Bay of Bengal, more than double the 1,680 km corridor declared for India’s separate anti-ship missile test on May 1.