Successful night trial of Agni-1 ballistic missile

A night trial of India's indigenously developed nuclear-capable Agni-1 ballistic missile with a strike range of 700 km was successfully conducted Tuesday from a test range off Odisha coast as part of a user trial by the Army, defence sources said.

The launch of the surface-to-surface missile was undertaken as a part of periodic training activity by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) from Dr Abdul Kalam Island to consolidate operational readiness, the sources said.

Describing the trial as successful, they said all mission objectives were met during the test.

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 accuracy, they said.

The sleek single-stage missile, powered by solid propellants, was launched Tuesday at about 8 pm from a mobile launcher from launch pad 4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR), said the sources.

Agni-I missile has a specialised navigation system which ensures it reaches the target with a high degree of accuracy and precision.

The missile, which has already been inducted in to Armed Forces has proved its excellent performance in terms of range, accuracy and lethality.

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

Agni-I was developed by advanced systems laboratory, the premier missile development laboratory of the DRDO in collaboration with Defence Research Development Laboratory and Research Centre Imarat and integrated by Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad.

While the sophisticated missile has been test fired many times from the same base since 2002, the night trial was conducted only for the second time to reconfirm its technological parameters, sources said.

Agni-I was test-fired from the same test range during night earlier on on April 12, 2014.