Indian Missile News And Discussion

[Arun_S]

[url="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100329/jsp/nation/story_12276223.jsp#"]Signal of strategic tests

[/url]

[left]New Delhi, March 28: The military’s Strategic Forces Command began exercising its missile regiments, test- firing the 700km-range Agni I today within a day of testing the 250km-range Prithvi II and the ship-launched Dhanush.[/left]

[left]The Strategic Forces Command functions under the Nuclear Command Authority that is headed by the Prime Minister.[/left]

[left]“The tests are examining the mutual coordination among the missile regiments under the Strategic Forces Command,” a defence ministry source said today, explaining the simultaneous tests.[/left]

[left]The Agni I tested today was launched from the Integrated Test Range at Wheeler Island, about 100km off the Orissa coast, shortly after 1pm by a missile regiment of the army. Senior officials of the defence ministry and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) were present. [/left]

[left]The short-range ballistic missile “met all parameters”, a DRDO officer said. [/left]

[left]The Strategic Forces Command was validating a specialised navigation system of the Agni I that ensures that it strikes “[color="#0000ff"]within metres of the target[/color]”, the official said.[/left]

[left]The army fired the single-stage missile from a launcher that moves on railway tracks (rail-mobile). The Agni I is capable of carrying a payload (warhead) of 1,000kg. DRDO officials said it was capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, just as the Prithvi II and the Dhanush. For today’s test, the Agni I had a “dummy” warhead.[/left]

[left]This month has seen the missile regiments being reinforced. Last week, the army signed a contract totalling over Rs 8,000 crore to raise two regiments of the Brahmos Mark II supersonic cruise missile. [/left]