India successfully testfires nuclear capable Agni5

India on Sunday successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclearcapable Long Range Ballistic Missile Agni-5, which has a strike range of 5,000 km, from a test range off the Odisha coast.

The surface-to-surface missile was launched with the help of a mobile launcher from launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island, earlier known as Wheeler Island, at 9.45 am, Defence sources said.

Describing the flight test as successful, a defence press note said, “All the Radars, Electro Optical Tracking Stations and Telemetry Stations tracked the vehicle all through the course of the trajectory. All the mission objectives have been achieved.”

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman has congratulated all the DRDO scientists, staff, armed forces and industries for the success of “A5 Mission,” it added. This was the sixth trial of the state-of-the-art Agni-5 which covered its full distance during the test.

Unlike other missiles of the series, Agni-5 is the most advanced with new technologies in terms of navigation and guidance, warhead and engine, said a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) official.

Many new technologies were successfully tested in the Agni-5 trial. Navigation systems, very high accuracy Ring Laser Gyro based Inertial Navigation System (RINS) and the most modern and accurate Micro Navigation System (MINS) had ensured the missile reached the target point within a few meters of accuracy, the official explained.

“The high speed on-board computer and fault tolerant software, along with robust and reliable bus, guided the missile flawlessly,” he said.

BALASORE (ODISHA): THE SURFACETOSURFACE MISSILE WAS LAUNCHED WITH THE HELP OF A MOBILE LAUNCHER FROM LAUNCH PAD4 AT DR APJ ABDUL KALAM ISLAND