India test fires nuclear capable Agni-V missile off Odisha coast

Balasore: India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed intercontinental surface-to-surface nuclear capable ballistic missile Agni-V from the Wheeler Island off Odisha coast on Monday.

The missile was launched from a mobile launcher from the launch complex-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR), the defense sources said.

“We are analyzing the test and collecting data from radars installed in the sea,” said an official of Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

It is the fourth and last developmental and second canisterized trial of the long range missile.

While the first test was conducted on April 19, 2012, the second test was carried out on September 15, 2013 and the third on January 31, 2015 from the same base.

Agni-V is capable of striking a target more than 5,000 km. It is about 17-meter long, 2-meter wide and has launch weight of around 50 tonnes. The missile can carry a nuclear warhead of more than one tonne.

The latest one Agni-V is the most advanced having some new technologies incorporated in terms of navigation and guidance, warhead and engine.

India has at present in its armory of Agni series, Agni-I with 700 km range, Agni-II with 2,000 km range, Agni-III and Agni-IV with 2,500 km to more than 3500 km range.