India Successfully test-fired N-capable Agni-I Missile

India successfully test-fired its nuclear capable Agni-I strategic ballistic missile on 1 December 2011 from the test range at Wheeler Island off Odisha coast, as part of the Indian Army's user trial. It was test-fired from a mobile launcher, from launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR). The Strategic Force Command (SFC) of the Army, as part of their training exercise, executed the trial with logistic support provided by Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) at the ITR. The trajectory of the missile, which had an operational strike range of 700 km, was tracked by sophisticated radars and electro-optic telemetry stations located along the sea coast and ships positioned near the impact point in the downrange area.

Agni-I missile is equipped with a specialised navigation system which ensures it reaches the target with a high degree of accuracy.

Agni-I was developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), the premier missile development laboratory of the DRDO in collaboration with Defence Research Development Laboratory (DRDL) and Research Centre Imarat (RCI) and integrated by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), Hyderabad.

The last trial of the Agni-I missile was successfully carried out on 25 November 2010 from the same base.

About Agni-I

•    Agni-I strategic ballistic missile is an indigenously developed surface-to-surface missile

•    It is a single-stage missile

•    It is powered by solid propellants

•    Agni-I can carry payloads up to 1000 kg

•    It Weighed 12 tonnes

•    It was 15-metre-long