Upgraded Agni-1 test fired successfully

Dhamra, Orissa: India successfully tested an upgraded version of the Agni-1 (A1) strategic surface-to-surface missile, with a strike range of 700 km. The missile was launched on Sunday, 23 March 2008 at 10.15 hrs from the Island Launch Complex off Dhamra, Orissa, by an Army unit.

According to a ministry of defence release, the missile displayed a textbook performance in terms of range, accuracy and lethality. A1 was developed by the Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), the premier missile development centre of the DRDO in collaboration with Defence Research and Development Laboratory, Hyderabad and the Research Centre Imarat, Hyderabad.

The defence public sector undertaking, Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad, integrated the missile.

The last trial was conducted on 5 October 2007 from the same launch site. The 15 metre tall Agni-1 missile weighs about 12 tonnes and is capable of carrying both conventional (1000 kg) as well as nuclear warheads.

The Indian strategic forces field a variety of missiles, including the shorter-range Prithvi ballistic missiles, the medium-range Akash surface-to-air missiles and the unique supersonic Brahmos cruise missiles which are configured for a variety of roles, including land attack, surface-to-sea, sea-to-surface    and a sub-surface version. It is also being readied for an air-to-surface role.

While the Prithvi series play a short-range tactical role, the Agni series have a longer-range strategic role to play. India last year successfully test-fired the Agni-III, which is capable of carrying nuclear warheads across much of Asia and the Middle East.

The upgraded A1 missile has been an effort of a consortium of DRDO labs namely the Vehicle Research & Development Establishment, Ahmednagar and the Research & Development (Establishment), Interim Test Range, Chandipur and major public and private industries.

According to programme director and director, ASL, Avinash Chander, the performance of all of A1's subsystems, explicit guidance, re-entry structures, avionics and payload was outstanding. He said that the test confirmed the robustness and maturity of DRDO's long-range missile technology.

He test was also a major milestone in the preparedness of Army units for the strategic deployment of the A1 system.

Dr VK Saraswat, CCR&D (MSS) participated in the launch and congratulated the team members for their dedicated and professional work towards achieving this success.

AK Antony, defence minister and MM Pallam Raju, minister of state for defence have congratulated the scientists and the operations team of the Strategic Force Command for an outstanding achievement. They said that the test was yet another milestone in the strategic preparations of the country.