Agni-I missile test-fired off Orissa coast

Bhubaneswar, Nov 25 (ANI): India on Thursday test-fired its nuclear-capable Agni-I strategic ballistic missile from the Integrated Test Range on Wheeler Island off the Orissa coast.

The indigenously developed surface-to-surface single-stage missile was test fired from a rail mobile launcher from Launch Pad-4 of the ITR, 100 kms off the Orissa coast.

The missile has a highly specialised navigation system which ensures it reaches the target with a high degree of accuracy, he said.

The entire trajectory of the missile, which has an operational striking range of 700 km, was tracked by sophisticated radars and electro-optic telemetry stations.

Weighing 12 tonnes, the 15-metre-long Agni-1, which can carry payloads up to 1000 kg, has already been inducted into the Indian Army.

Agni-1 was developed by advanced systems laboratory (ASL), the premier missile development laboratory of Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) in collaboration with Defence Research Development Laboratory (DRDL) and Research Centre Imarat (RCI).

It is integrated by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) Hyderabad. (ANI)