Range and payload obfuscated. More realistic figures below. Dhamra (Orissa), July. 9 (PTI): India's nuclear-capable intermediate range ballistic missile Agni-III, capable of hitting targets at a distance of 3,500 km, was successfully fired for the first time from a range in the Bay of Bengal today.
Defence sources said the surface-to-surface missile blasted off from a fixed platform at the Integrated Test Range at Wheeler Island off the Orissa coast at 11.05 hours as Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and top defence scientists looked on.
This was the first launch of the Agni-III, the most sophisticated product of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme that started in 1983. The testing of the missile has been repeatedly put off since November 2004 for a variety of reasons.
The countdown began early in the morning as scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) prepared for the launch under an overcast sky. The 16-metre-long and 1.8-metre diameter missile, rose majestically into the sky, spewing thick yellow smoke and fire, eyewitnesses said. An official spokesman in Delhi said, "The missile took off successfully. Details of the flight performance are being analysed by the mission team."
This is the 10th time that a missile of the Agni series has been launched from the test ranges at Chandipur-on-Sea and Wheeler Island. It was the fifth time that the Agni category of missiles has been tested from Wheeler Island. DRDO chief M Natarajan, who is also Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, and Avinash Chander, Director of the Agni-III project, were present at the launch site.
The missile was fired from the fixed platform with the help of an auto-launcher. Agni-III can be deployed by rail or road launch vehicles and is equipped with an improved guidance system, defence sources said.
Significantly, President A P J Abdul Kalam, referred to as the "father of India's missile development programme", visited Wheeler Island for a few hours during his three-day visit to Orissa last week.
Three sophisticated radars, six electro-optical tracking systems and three telemetric data stations on the mainland at Dhamra, Chandipur and Andamans as well as a ship stationed close to the splash down point monitored the trajectory of the Agni-III after it was fired from the island.
Fitted with an on-board computer, the missile took off vertically into space and re-entered the atmosphere to hit the impact point near Nicobar Island in the Bay of Bengal. The two-stage missile has solid fuel boosters and can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads weighing up to a tonne. The missile fired today had the capability of carrying a payload of 1,000 kg, the sources said.
Length: 17 m
Diameter: 1.8 m
Launch Weight: 39-48 tonnes
Payload: 600- 1500Kg (2490 Kg conventional)
Guidence: INS , optionally augmented by GPS/GLONASS/IRSS, possibly with radar scene correlation.
Range: 5500Km (1500 Kg)
Propellant Solid HTPB/AP/Al
Case Material: Kevlar Epoxy Composites
RV: carbon-carbon composite
450 kg warhead Yield: 200Kt