By IANS
Bhadrak (Orissa) : India Friday tested its nuclear capable missile Agni-1 from a military base here, military sources said.
Describing the exercise as the first training trial to complete Agni 1’s induction process into the army, officials said the intermediate range missile was tested from Wheeler Island near Dhamra in Bhadrak district, about 150 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar, at about 10.40 a.m.
Wheeler Island is one of the launch sites of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at the Chandipur defence base.
Hundreds of people, including scientists of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), witnessed as the missile roared into the sky leaving behind a trail of thick yellow smoke and fire and vanished into the clouds within seconds.
Agni 1 is the first of the Agni series missiles. It has a range of about 700 km and can carry a one-tonne warhead.
It is a surface-to-surface missile developed by DRDO under India’s integrated guided missile development programme launched in 1983. The first test of the Agni series of missiles was conducted in May 1989.
Agni-II, which has a range of more than 1,500 km, was first tested on April 11, 1999.
In April, India tested the Agni-III ballistic missile, which has a wider range of over 3,000 km.
On Thursday night, the local administration had warned fishermen not to venture into the sea.