The all-solid fuel missile took off from Wheelers Island off Orissa coast at 9.56 am and achieved its full range and accuracy by reaching its pre-designated target in 800 seconds.
“The missile is now ready for induction,” jubilant DRDO scientists told reporters after the missile achieved its target in a copybook style.
With this second successful test-firing, India now joins a select group of nations having intermediate range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) with ranges up to 3,000 km. The missile will give the nation the capability to target cities in China like Beijing and Shanghai.
It was a sort of golden jubilee gift of the DRDO to the nation as the organisa tion is about to launch from Monday celebrations to commemorate 50 years of its existence. The success of Agni-3 paves the way for India to build its truly intercontinental range missiles Agni-4 with a range of 5,000 km in the near future.
A miniaturised submarinelaunched version of the Agni-3 called Agni-3 SL is also being developed and could be test-fired shortly.
Unlike Agni-1 and Agni2, the Agni-3 missile has been designed and optimised to carry lighter 200 KT thermo nuclear payload weapons. The third-stage booster being installed for the future Agni range of missiles will give them capability of hitting targets at longer distances fairly accurately. “The missile reached the pre-designated target in a time of 800 seconds, travelling through a peak height of 350 km with a velocity of more than 4,000 metres a second,” Mr Avinash Chander, director of the Agni Project, told reporters here.