Canister-based version of Agni V launch successful

India on Saturday morning successfully test-fired its most sophisticated and technologically advanced missile, the nuclear-capable Agni V, from a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) facility at Wheelers Island located off the coast of Dhamara in north Odisha's Bhadrak district.

Highly placed official sources said the indigenously developed surface-to-surface ballistic missile was test-fired at 8:08 am from a canister kept on a mobile launcher parked on launchpad no 4 of the Interim Test Range (ITR).

Agni V, which can hit a target more than 5,000 km away carrying both nuclear as well as conventional warheads of up to 1.5 tonne, had been tested test twice in April 2012 and September 2013. However, this is the first time the strategically important missile's canister-based version was successfully test-launched.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already congratulated the missile scientists on the successful trial, said a Press Information Bureau (PIB) statement released here.  “The successful test-firing of Agni V from a canister makes the missile a prized asset for our forces. I salute our scientists for their efforts,” the PIB statement quoting Modi as saying.

After its successful blast-off, the 17-metre long and 2-metre wide missile’s 20-minute flight was monitored by DRDO radars and telemetry stations located at various places along the Odisha coastline till its touchdown at a pre-designated “target” deep inside the Indian Ocean. The missile’s final moments were also witnessed by two Indian Navy ships stationed near the spot.  

Sources in the state’s Science and Technology Department said: “With the trial being a success, the missile can now be transported to any place for strategic use. It can now be fired even from the Indo-Pak border.” 

It is also strategically important because apart from covering the whole of China, it can also reach parts of Europe.  

Very few nations in the world, like the United States, China and Russia, have the capacity to fire a missile from a canister.

Agni V, however, is yet to be inducted into the Indian armed forces. It will be commissioned after a few more successful test-firings.