N-capable Agni IV missile successfully test-fired

India on Tuesday successfully test fired the nuclear capable Agni IV missile from a defence facility located at the Wheelers Island off the coast of Dhamara in Bhadrak district in north Odisha. 

Sources said the long range surface-to-surface ballistic missile was fired from a mobile vehicle parked on the launch pad number four of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) run premier missile testing centre at around 10:19 am.

The user trial was conducted by the trained personnel from Indian Army’s strategic force command (SFC) with assistance from DRDO experts. 

Several senior rocket scientists from the DRDO as well as officials from the ministry of defence were present during the test of the strategically important missile.

The missile was tracked and monitored by radar and telemetry stations located at various points on the Odisha coastline. Two ships of the Indian Navy stationed at the missile’s pre-designed landing point inside the Indian Ocean also recorded its successful touchdown. 

Often described by experts and analysts as the country’s “China specific” missile, Agni IV which weighs about 17 tonne has the capability to hit a target at a distance of 4,000 km carrying conventional as well as nuclear warheads up to 1 tonne.