India's nuclear-capable intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) 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 (SSM) blasted off from a fixed platform at the Integrated Test Range at Wheeler Island off the Orissa coast at 1105 hours.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. 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.
