Agni-III, the nuclear capable, ballistic missile was successfully test fired from the Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha around 1700 hrs on Monday.
It was a user trial carried out by the Strategic Forces Command of the Indian Army under the technical supervision and logistic support of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO).
With a strike range of more than 3,000 km, the surface to surface missile traversed the entire distance in 800 seconds. It confirmed all the parameters and was tracked along its entire course, defence sources said.
The indigenously developed missile was flight-tested from a mobile launcher from the Integrated Test Range. It was the second user trial in the Agni-III series carried out to establish the 'repeatability' of the missile's performance.
The Agni-III missile is powered by a two-stage solid propellant system. With a length of 17 metres, it can carry a warhead of 1.5 tonne.
The missile was first tested in the developmental trial in 2006 and subsequently three tests by the DRDO and a user trial in 2012 were successfully done.
The DRDO is planning to launch the Agni-IV and Agni-V in the next few months.
Somasekhar.m@thehindu.co.in