Balasore (Odisha):
The medium-range, nuclear capable Agni-II missile was today successfully test-fired with a strike range of more than 2,000 kms from the Wheeler Island off Odisha coast.
"The trial of the surface-to-surface missile was conducted from a mobile launcher from the Launch Complex-4 of Integrated Test Range (ITR) at around 10.20 am," defence sources said.
"Agni-II Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) has already been inducted into the services and today's test was carried out by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Army as part of training exercise with logistic support provided by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)," the sources said.
The two-stage missile equipped with advanced, high-accuracy navigation system, guided by a novel state-of-the art command and control system, was propelled by solid rocket propellant system, they said.
"The entire trajectory of the trial was tracked by a battery of sophisticated radars, telemetry observation stations, electro-optic instruments and naval ships located near the impact point in the down range area of the sea," said a DRDO scientist.
The 20-metre-long Agni-II is a two-stage, solid-propelled ballistic missile. It has a launch weight of 17 tonnes and can carry a payload of 1,000 kgs over a distance of 2,000 kms.
The state-of-the-art Agni-II missile was developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) and integrated by the Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) in Hyderabad.
Agni-II is part of the Agni series of missiles developed by DRDO which includes Agni-I with a 700 km range, Agni-III with a 3,000 km range, Agni-IV with 4,000 km range and Agni-V with a more than 5,000 km range.
The last trial of the Agni-II conducted on August 9 last year from the same base was a total success.
"Today's test fire was successful. It met all the parameters. It was 100 per cent successful," MVKV Prasad, the director of Integrated Test Range (ITR), told PTI.