New Delhi: A training launch of a medium-range ballistic missile, Agni-I, was successfully carried out by the Strategic Forces Command from APJ Abdul Kalam Island, in Odisha on June 1, the defence ministry said in a statement.
“The missile is a proven system, capable of striking targets with a very high degree of precision. The user training launch successfully validated all operational and technical parameters of the missile,” defence ministry principal spokesperson A Bharat Bhushan Babu said in the statement.
In October last year, India successfully fired ‘Agni Prime’ – a new generation of ballistic missiles – from off the coast of Odisha. Defence officials said all test objectives were met and said the third consecutive (and successful) test of the ‘Agni Prime’ had ‘established the accuracy and reliability of the system’.
Performance was validated using data obtained by many tracking systems, including radar, telemetry and electro-optical systems, the officials had said. These systems were deployed at different locations along the flight path, including two down-range ships at the terminal point, and covered the entire trajectory, officials added.
The first test was in June last year, with the second six months later – in December. On both those occasions too the missile ‘followed textbook trajectory and met all mission objectives with a high level of accuracy’, officials said.
