'AGNI- 3' Missile ready for induction : Programme Director

Hyderabad, May 7 (UNI) Senior Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientist and Agni Programme Director Avinash Chander today said Agni 3, the nuclear capable missile which was testfired successfully from Wheeler Island in Orissa, was ready to be inducted into the defence services.

Declaring the Agni 3 flight test a complete success, meeting all the mission objectives, Mr Chander said, ''the developmental flights of Agni 3 are complete and the system is ready for induction.'' Asseting that the missile was capable of carrying warheads weighing up to 1.5 tonnes and hit a 3000 km target, he said a high performance indigenous Ring Laser Gyro-based navigation system was flight tested for the first time in Agni missile systems.

The Missile reached the pre-designated target in 800 seconds, travelling through a peak height of 350 km with a velocity of more than 4000 m per second, he said in a press release here.

Two Indian naval ships, positioned near the target location South of Equator, have confirmed the impact of the missile.

Agni 3 was a two-stage solid propellant system with a length of 17 metres, diameter of 2 metres and launch weight of 50 tonnes.

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