India successfully test-fires new generation Agni Prime missile off Odisha coast
A government official said the missile test met all its mission objectives with a high level of accuracy.
India on Saturday successfully test-fired the Agni Prime missile off the coast of Odisha in Balasore, government officials said.
Agni-P is a new generation advanced variant of Agni class of missiles. It is a two-stage canisterised missile with range capability between 1,000 and 2,000 km.
This was the second test of the Agni Prime missile. The test was conducted at 11am off the APJ Abdul Kalam island in balasore.
An ANI report said a lot of new features have been added to the nuclear-capable strategic missile Agni Prime during this test.
“The missile test met all its mission objectives with a high level of accuracy,” an official was quoted as saying. The first test was successfully carried out on June 28 at the same place.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the Defence and Research Development Organisation (DRDO) for the successful flight test and expressed his happiness over the system's performance.
“Test carried out by DRDO at 11.06am. Telemetry, radar, electro-optical stations and downrange ships positioned along eastern coast tracked and monitored missile trajectory and parameters. Missile followed textbook trajectory, meeting all mission objectives with high level of accuracy,” the DRDO said in a statement.
The ballistic missile weighs 50 per cent less than Agni 3 and can be launched from rail and road and stored for a longer period and transported all across the country as per operational requirements.
On December 7, the country successfully test-fired the air version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile that the ministry of defence described as a ‘major milestone’ in BrahMos development.
The ministry had said the missile was successfully test-fired from Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Sukhoi 30 MKI supersonic fighter aircraft from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), based in Chandipur, off the coast of Odisha.
Around the same time, the Vertically Launched Short Range Surface to Air Missile (VL-SRSAM) was successfully test-fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur.
According to Defence Research and Development Organisation officials (DRDO), the air defence system can engage targets at around 15km. The VL-SRSAM, indigenously designed and developed by the DRDO for the Indian Navy, is meant for neutralising various aerial threats at close ranges, including sea-skimming targets, the organisation said.
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