The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced the test-firing of a new generation advanced ballistic missile variant, Agni-P (Prime).
Conducted by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the flight test took place from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast of Balasore.
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The MoD in a statement said: “Various telemetry and radar stations positioned along the eastern coast tracked and monitored the missile. The missile followed textbook trajectory, meeting all mission objectives with high level of accuracy.”
The Agni series of ballistic missiles are developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) of the DRDO.
The Agni missile family consists of different variants ranging from I to V Four variants are currently inducted into services with Agni-V planned to be deployed this year.
Agni P variant is a ‘canisterised’ surface-to-surface missile with a 1,000km to 2,000km range.
Produced using composite material, the missile is said to be designed to hit enemy vessels located as far as in the Indo-Pacific.
Weighing 50% less than Agni III, Agni P features a new class of propulsion and guidance.
In December 2019, the Strategic Forces Command of the Indian Army carried out the first night trial of the nuclear-capable Agni-III at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) on APJ Abdul Kalam Island.
Last week, the DRDO conducted a test-fire of the Pinaka rockets.
