India on Friday successfully test-fired nuclear weapons-capable, surface-to-surface Agni-1 missile for its full range of 700 km from Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast.
The single-stage, solid-fuelled missile was launched at 9.34 a.m. from a road mobile launcher by personnel of the Strategic Forces Command as part of a regular training exercise. It was a text-book launch and the missile, carrying a dummy payload weighing one tonne, splashed down near the pre-designated target point with double-digit accuracy, a top Defence Research and Development Organisation scientist said.
It was the 11th launch of Agni-1, and the on-board computer and the inertial navigation system steered the missile towards its target.
Agni-1 was developed by DRDO missile technologists in a short span of 15 months after the need for it was perceived by the defence services following the Kargil conflict.
