India successfully fires Agni I in continuing missile tests

Continuing its series of nuclear-capable missile tests, India today successfully test-fired the Agni I missile.

The launch was carried out from the test base at Wheeler Island off the Odisha coast under the aegis of the Strategic Forces Command (SFC).

The single stage, solid-fuelled missile was fired from a road mobile launcher at 9.34 am by SFC personnel as part of its regular user training.

After a 10-minute flight, the missile with a one-tonne dummy payload splashed down near the pre-designated target in the Bay of Bengal with double-digit accuracy, a senior Defence Research & Development Organisation official said. The DRDO is instrumental in developing such missiles.

Aided by an onboard computer, the inertial navigation system (INS) steered the missile to its target.

All the radars along the east coast, telemetry stations, electro-optical tracking systems, monitored the performance of the missile in real-time during the entire mission, while a down-range ship positioned near the target recorded the terminal event.

Top DRDO officials, including chief controller (missiles & strategic systems) V G Sekaran, witnessed the operation.