India successfully tests n-capable Agni-III missile

India Monday successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable Agni-III ballistic missile, with a range of over 3,000 km, from a base in Odisha, defence officials said.

The surface-to-surface missile was fired from a launching complex at the Inner Wheeler Island off the coast of Dhamra in Bhadrak district, about 200 km from here.

"The test was carried out by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC). It was a user trial," test range director M.V.K.V. Prasad told IANS.

"It was tested for full range. The test was successful. It met all mission parameters," he added.

"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 pin-point accuracy," Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) spokesperson Ravi Kumar Gupta said in a statement.

"Such successful training launches clearly indicate our operational readiness to meet any eventuality as also establishes the reliability of this deterrent component of India's strategic arsenal," he said.

Agni-III is capable of carrying warheads weighing up to 1.5 tonnes. It is 16 metres in length and weighs 48 tonnes. The missile has a two-stage solid propellant system. It can re-enter the atmosphere at a very high velocity.

Agni-III is a rail mobile system capable missile and can be launched from anywhere in India.