Agni-IV launch successful

20/01/2014: AGNI-IV, the 4000 kms range Nuclear Capable Ballistic Missile was successfully launched today at 1052 hrs today i.e. 20th January 2014 from the wheeler island off the coast of Odisha. This was the third consecutively successful trial and the last one in the series of development launches. The missile took off majestically, rose to a height of over 850 km, covered the intended range in about 20 minutes, hit the target with two digit accuracy; meeting all mission objectives and proving the capabilities of the missile. The AGNI-IV missile propelled by composite solid fuel rocket motor technology was launched from its road mobile launcher indigenously developed by DRDO. The long range Radars and Electro-Optical Tracking systems (EOTS) located all along the coast have tracked and monitored all the parameters throughout the flight. Two ships located near the target point tracked the vehicle and witnessed the final event.

India's strategic missile, Agni-IV, was successfully test-fired on Tuesday morning from the Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast. The missile unit of the Strategic Forces Command of the Army flight-tested the missile, which had been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Although the missile's full range is 4,000 km, it was flight-tested on Tuesday for a range of 3,000 km only.

A DRDO missile technologist argued that the missile was "intentionally fight-tested for 3,000 km." He asserted that "there was no problem with the flight at all." Any missile will have a minimum range and a maximum range. "Every time, we test-fire a missile, we will test it for different ranges," he said.

Another top DRDO missile engineer also said Agni-IV was deliberately tested for a range of 3,000 km. "We planned it that way," he said.

The entire flight from the lift-off to the splashdown in the Indian Ocean lasted 15 minutes. The missile rose to an altitude of 500 km before coming down in a parabolic path in the Indian Ocean. The missile's re-entry systems worked well.

V.G. Sekaran, Director General, Missiles and Strategic Systems, DRDO, called it "an excellent flight."