Akash medium-range missile test-fired

India on Friday successfully test-fired its Akash medium-range surface-to-air missile from a defence base in Odisha.

The indigenously-developed missile, with a 27 km range and an effective ceiling of 15 km, was test-fired from the Integrated Test Range of Chandipur in the coastal district of Balasore, 230 km from Bhubaneswar.

“It was test fired by the scientists of (state-run missile system manufacturer) Bharat Dynamic Limited and (state run defence electronics company) Bharat Electronics for the armed forces,” test range director M.V.K.V. Prasad told IANS. “The test was successful,” he added.

The 700-kg all-weather missile can carry a 60-kg warhead at speeds of up to Mach 2.5. It can operate autonomously and simultaneously engage and neutralise different aerial targets.

It can be launched from static or mobile platforms, enabling flexible deployment by the armed forces.

Preparation are underway for a few more tests of the missile from the same base within next fortnight, Mr. Prasad said.

Strategic Forces Command test fires Agni

The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Army successfully fired an Agni-I missile from the Wheeler Island, off Odisha on Thursday) to test the Command’s readiness to launch ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads. The Agni-I rose from a road-mobile launcher, a specially designed truck, at 9.30 a.m. and covered its targeted range in 600 seconds of flight. The missile accurately reached its targeted area in the Bay of Bengal.

The Agni-I, indigenously developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is already in the Army’s arsenal.This was the fifth success in a row when a series of missiles were launched from September from the Wheeler Island. The flights included Shourya, Prithvi-II and Agni-II missiles in the last week of September and Agni-IV on November 15. The DRDO developed all these missiles.