Agni III puts China within reach

India today test fired its first nuclear-headed intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) Agni III, which is capable of hitting targets in China.

A defence ministry spokesman said the 16-metre long missile weighing 48 tonnes lifted off successfully at 10.52 am from its mobile launcher system, located 72 km off Balasore in Orissa, leaving a trail of orange and yellow smoke.

In its maiden flight, the missile went up to a distance of 90 km, vertically crossing the atmosphere and re-entering it to target the predetermined point near the Car Nicobar island.

The indigenously built surface-to-surface Agni III missile has a range of 3,000-3,500 km and is capable of carrying payload up to 1.8 tonnes. It has anti-ballistic and decoy features that can dodge the enemy.

The missile had failed its first test last year due to a technical snag. Although this missile is entirely driven by an inbuilt computer and has no link with the launching station after the take off, its flight was monitored from Dhamra, ITR, Balasore, Port Blair and by two naval ships in the Indian Ocean.

Congratulating the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists on the success of the mission, Defence Minister A K Antony said, "This move has given self-reliance to us in this critical strategic area." He said Agni III had confirmed India's strategic capability for minimum credible deterrence.

Minister of State for Defence Pallam Raju, defence minister's scientific advisor M Natarajan and senior officials of the defence ministry and military watched the launch of Agni III.

Agni III has mow become the longest range missile in South Asia and is much more powerful than any missile in Pakistan's arsenal. However, China has missiles with a longer reach than Agni III.

Indian armed force are waiting for induction of Agni's other variants "" Agni I with a range of 700 km and Agni II with a range of 1,500 km "" that have been test fired earlier.

While Agni I is a part liquid and part solid fuel propelled missile, the longer range Agni II and Agni III have solid fuel boosters and aimers, 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.