India successfully test-fires nuclear-capable  #Agni-I – 

India, on Monday, successfully test-fired its indigenously built nuclear-capable intermediate range Agni-I ballistic missile, capable of hitting a target 700 km away, from a test range off Odisha coast as part of a user trial by the Army.

The surface-to-surface, single-stage missile, powered by solid propellants, was test-fired from a mobile launcher at 9.15 a.m. from launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island), a Defence official said.

The missile covered a distance of 700 km within 9 minutes and 36 seconds, he said.

“The launch was undertaken as a part of periodic training activity by SFC to further consolidate operational readiness,” the official said.

The trajectory of the trial was tracked by a battery of sophisticated radars, telemetry observation stations, electro-optic instruments and naval ships.

Weighing 12 tonnes, the 15-metre-long Agni-I, is designed to carry a payload of more than one tonne. Its strike range can be extended by reducing the payload.

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