News / India

India test-fires nuclear-capable surface-to-surface missile

Monday, 14 March 2016 5:30 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 14 March 2016 7:26 PM ]

In this handout photograph received from the Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on January 31, 2015, the Agni V blasts off from a canister mounted atop a mobile truck on Abdul Kalam Island, off the eastern state of Odisha. (AFP photo )

India has successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface missile with a range of 700 kilometers.

An Indian defense official told local media outlets that Agni-I missile blasted off from a mobile launcher at Abdul Kalam Island, located about approximately 150 kilometers from Bhubaneshwar, the capital of the eastern state of Odisha, at around 9:15 a.m. local time (0345 GMT) on Monday.

The official added that the launch, which formed part of a training exercise by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Indian Army, was fully successful. "The launch was undertaken as a part of periodic training activity by SFC to further consolidate operational readiness."

Sources said that Agni-I missile covered 700 km distance within 9 minutes and 36 seconds. They added that the sophisticated missile proved excellent in terms of accuracy and lethality.

The missile trajectory was tracked by sophisticated radars, electro-optic instruments, naval ships and telemetry observation stations located along the coast of Odisha.

The 15-meter-long Agni-I is capable of carrying more than 1,000 kilograms of warheads.

This file photo shows the Indian nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Prithvi-II (Earth-II) missile.

In January last year, India tested its longest-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile with the capacity to strike China and Europe and mounted on a truck, which gives it greater mobility.

The three-stage and solid propellant Agni-V (Fire-V) missile was launched in the Bay of Bengal, off India’s eastern coast, on January 31, 2015. The 17-meter-long intercontinental ballistic missile has a range of more than 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles).

India has routinely carried out missile tests since it first demonstrated its nuclear weapons capability in 1998. It has also been engaged in an arms race with its neighbor Pakistan since the partition of the two countries in 1947.

Both neighbors have refused to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and other international regulatory pacts that restrict developing or testing nuclear weapons.

India considers the NPT as discriminatory, while Pakistan has indicated that it will not join the international treaty until its neighbor does.

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