India Successfully Test Fires Agni-III Ballistic Missile
Siddique Islam - All Headline News Foreign Correspondent Dhamra, India (AHN) - India's most sophisticated intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) Agni-III was test-fired from a range off the Orissa Coast on Sunday. Quoting defense sources, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported that the indigenously built surface-to-surface nuclear capable missile, with a range of 3,500 km (2,174 miles), was test-fired from a fixed platform at the launch complex of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at the Wheeler's Island at about 11:05 am local time. Described as the most powerful of India's missiles developed by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Agni-III has the capability of carrying a payload of 1000 kg. Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Scientific Advisor M Natarajan, were present at the launch complex located in the Wheeler Island off the Dhamra Coast to witness the launch of the missile. Part of the country's Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP), missiles in the Agni series are being test fired since May 22, 1989 from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea in Balasore district. After the action shifted to the Wheeler Island a few years ago, Agni-I and Agni-II had been flight tested from there twice each. Agni-I, with a range of 700 to 800 kg, and Agni-II with a range of 2,000 km (1,242 miles), had already been inducted into the army. Boosters for the two mis |
