India successfully tests nuclear-capable Agni-I missile

Bhubaneswar: India on Friday successfully test-fired indigenously-developed nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Agni-I missile from a military base in Odisha, a defence official said.

The missile, which can strike a target 700 km away and can carry a one tonne nuclear warhead, was tested by the armed forces from a facility on Wheeler Island near Dhamra in Bhadrak district, 170 km from Bhubaneswar.

“It hit the target with hundred per cent accuracy. It was a perfect test,” director of the Integrated Test Range, MVKV Prasad, told IANS. “This was another user trial with a short range.”

Amongst those who witnessed the test were Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief VK Saraswat.

Agni is an intermediate range ballistic missile. It uses solid propulsion booster and a liquid propulsion upper stage, derived from India’s first indigenously developed ballistic missile Prithvi.