Last Updated: April 12, 2007 13:07 IST
India on Thursday succesfully test fired its nuclear capable intermediate range ballistic missile Agni-III from the Interim Test Range at the Wheeler's Island in the Bay of Bengal off the Orissa coast, defence sources said
The indigenously developed surface-to-surface missile, blasted off at 10.52 am from a fixed platform with the help of an auto launcher in the launch complex-4 of the ITR, located about 72 km from Balasore, defence sources added.
The sleek missile vertically roared into the clear sky leaving behind a thick column of white and yellow smoke, eyewitness accounts said.
Fitted with an on-board computer, the missile was designed to go up to a distance of 90 km, vertically crossing the atmosphere and re-entering into the earth targeting the predetermined impact point near Car Nicobar Island, the sources said.
With this launch, Agni-III has become the missile with the longest reach in South Asia and more powerful than any missile in Pakistan's arsenal.
However, China has missiles with a longer reach than Agni-III.
This is Agni-III's second trial, the earlier experiment on July 9, 2006, having gone awry.
Defence Research and Development Organisation scientists said the fault detected in the first test trial of the Agni-III missile had been addressed.
Agni-III's earlier test launch had failed as the second stage booster of the missile failed to separate, plunging it into the Bay of Bengal just seconds after take-off.
The scientists had traced the flaw to a defective shield, which was unable to withstand the heat generated due to friction during the flight.
They had devised a flexible heat shield for the missile without changing its other parameters.
The 16-m Agni-III weighs 48 tonnes and is capable of carrying conventional and nuclear warheads weighing up to 1.5 tonnes.
After the highly publicised failure, an exhaustive analysis of the missile's test-launch telemetry data was conducted by scientists to find whether the flaw was in design, manufacture or assembly of the missile.
The government, however, asked the scientists to "learn from mistakes" and rectify the same.
Earlier in the morning on Thursday, a four-hour "range countdown" for test-firing of the missile began at 6 am, the sources said.
The range countdown was designed to be put on hold if any snag was found in the missile and commence again after the same was rectified.
As programmed, three minutes before the blast-off, there was to be a hold in the range countdown process so that
an "auto launch sequence" could take over and a network of computers in the main control station could check all the
health parameters of the missile as well as its sub-systems and allow the missile to move forward in the in the pre-programmed trajectory.
Air traffic controls at the Kalaikunda base, the Airport Authority of India at Kolkata and the Eastern Naval Command at Visakhapatnam had been intimated about the test firing of the missile.
The administration in the coastal Balasore, Bhadrak and Kendrapara districts had also been intimated to warn fishermen not to venture into the sea during the launch period, the sources said.
The Agni series of missiles are part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme launched in 1983 under the guidance of the renowned defence scientist and present President A P J Abdul Kalam.
The scientific advisor to the defence minister and DRDO Chief M Natrajan and Project Director of Agni-III Avinash Chander were present at the Wheeler's Island launch pad at the time when the missile blasted-off.
Source: in.rediff.com/news/2007/apr/12agni.htm
India on Thursday succesfully test fired its nuclear capable intermediate range ballistic missile Agni-III from the Interim Test Range at the Wheeler's Island in the Bay of Bengal off the Orissa coast, defence sources said
The indigenously developed surface-to-surface missile, blasted off at 10.52 am from a fixed platform with the help of an auto launcher in the launch complex-4 of the ITR, located about 72 km from Balasore, defence sources added.
The sleek missile vertically roared into the clear sky leaving behind a thick column of white and yellow smoke, eyewitness accounts said.
Fitted with an on-board computer, the missile was designed to go up to a distance of 90 km, vertically crossing the atmosphere and re-entering into the earth targeting the predetermined impact point near Car Nicobar Island, the sources said.
With this launch, Agni-III has become the missile with the longest reach in South Asia and more powerful than any missile in Pakistan's arsenal.
However, China has missiles with a longer reach than Agni-III.
This is Agni-III's second trial, the earlier experiment on July 9, 2006, having gone awry.
Defence Research and Development Organisation scientists said the fault detected in the first test trial of the Agni-III missile had been addressed.
Agni-III's earlier test launch had failed as the second stage booster of the missile failed to separate, plunging it into the Bay of Bengal just seconds after take-off.
The scientists had traced the flaw to a defective shield, which was unable to withstand the heat generated due to friction during the flight.
They had devised a flexible heat shield for the missile without changing its other parameters.
The 16-m Agni-III weighs 48 tonnes and is capable of carrying conventional and nuclear warheads weighing up to 1.5 tonnes.
After the highly publicised failure, an exhaustive analysis of the missile's test-launch telemetry data was conducted by scientists to find whether the flaw was in design, manufacture or assembly of the missile.
The government, however, asked the scientists to "learn from mistakes" and rectify the same.
Earlier in the morning on Thursday, a four-hour "range countdown" for test-firing of the missile began at 6 am, the sources said.
The range countdown was designed to be put on hold if any snag was found in the missile and commence again after the same was rectified.
As programmed, three minutes before the blast-off, there was to be a hold in the range countdown process so that
an "auto launch sequence" could take over and a network of computers in the main control station could check all the
health parameters of the missile as well as its sub-systems and allow the missile to move forward in the in the pre-programmed trajectory.
Air traffic controls at the Kalaikunda base, the Airport Authority of India at Kolkata and the Eastern Naval Command at Visakhapatnam had been intimated about the test firing of the missile.
The administration in the coastal Balasore, Bhadrak and Kendrapara districts had also been intimated to warn fishermen not to venture into the sea during the launch period, the sources said.
The Agni series of missiles are part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme launched in 1983 under the guidance of the renowned defence scientist and present President A P J Abdul Kalam.
The scientific advisor to the defence minister and DRDO Chief M Natrajan and Project Director of Agni-III Avinash Chander were present at the Wheeler's Island launch pad at the time when the missile blasted-off.
Source: in.rediff.com/news/2007/apr/12agni.htm
