Samudra
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Agni-III test fired off Orissa Coast :army:
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Time to celebrate, Gentlement.:flag:
Dhamra, July. 9 (PTI): India's most sophisticated intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) Agni-III was today test-fired from a range off the Orissa Coast.
The indigenously built surface-to-surface nuclear capable missile, with a range of 3,500 km, was test-fired from a fixed platform at the launch complex of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at the Wheeler's Island at about 11.05 am, defence sources said.
Described as the most powerful of India's missiles developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Agni-III has the capability of carrying a payload of 1000 kg, the sources said.
Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Scientific Advisor M Natarajan, were present at the launch complex located in the Wheeler Island off the Dhamra Coast to witness the launch of the missile.
Eyewitnesses said the sleek missile roared into the overcast sky leaving behind a trail of thick yellow smoke and fire and vanished into the clouds within seconds.
Fitted with an onboard computer, it took off vertically into space and re-entered again to the splash down point near Nicobar island in the Bay of Bengal, the sources said.
Three sophisticated radars, six electro optical tracking systems and three telemetric data stations were engaged in the main land at Dhamra, Chandipur and Andamans apart from a ship anchored close to the splash down point to monitor the entire trajectory of the missile.
The two-stage missile has solid fuel boosters and can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads. The 16-metre long Agni-III has a diametre of 1.8 metres and was shorter than Agni-II which had a length of 20 metres and diameter of one metre.
Though the DRDO had been technically ready for the test launching of Agni-III its test firing had been put off repeatedly since November 2004.
Part of the country's Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), missiles in the Agni series are being test fired since May 22, 1989 from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea in Balasore district.
After the action shifted to the Wheeler Island a few years ago, Agni-I and Agni-II had been flight tested from there twice each.
Agni-I, with a range of 700 to 800 kg, and Agni-II with a range of 2000 km, had already been inducted into the army. Boosters for the two missiles had been provided by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). But Agni-III is a totally different system with an entirely new booster vehicle, the sources said.
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Time to celebrate, Gentlement.:flag: