India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed, nuclear-capable, Short Range Ballistic Missile (SRBM) Agni-I from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Wheeler Island, approximately 100-km from here off the Orissa (east Indian State) coast on 28 March. It was a fantastic mission carried out by the Indian Army. The test-fire of the Agni-I missile met all parameters.
Guidance and Reentry System
Blasted off from a rail mobile launcher, the surface-to-surface, single-stage missile, powered by solid propellants, roared into the sky trailing behind a column of orange and white thick smoke. After piercing the sky, the missile reentered the earth's atmosphere and its dummy warhead impacted in the waters of the Bay of Bengal in the down range. According to the details, the guidance and reentry system worked well.
User of the missile, the strategic force command of the Indian Army, executed the entire launch operation with the necessary logistic support being provided by the Defense Research Development Organization (DRDO) at the Integrated Test Range (ITR).
Preparedness of Indian Army
Weighing 12 tons, the 15-meter tall Agni-I, which can carry payloads weighing up to one ton, has already been inducted into the Indian Army. The Agni-I has a range of up to 700-km. The command chain has been validated. This is a major step in the preparedness of the Army in using this weapon system. The defense scientists have reached the full range capability of the missile.
The entire trajectory of today's mission was tracked by a battery of sophisticated radars, telemetry and electro-optic systems and a naval ship anchored in the impact point. The command, operation, integration, execution and networking for the launch were done by the Army.
Nuclear-Capable Medium-Range Ballistic Missiles
India successfully test-fired two nuclear-capable medium-range ballistic missiles Prithvi-II and Dhanush in quick succession from different locations off the Orissa coast on 27 March. Dhanush was test-fired from INS Subhadra, about 50 nautical miles from Puri, while Prithvi-II was test-fired from a mobile launcher from the ITR. Prithvi-II has a range of 295-km while Dhanush, the naval version of Prithvi, can cruise up to 350-km.
On 22 March, the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos, jointly developed by India and Russia, was successfully test-launched from INS Ranvir off the Orissa coast.
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