Indian Missile News And Discussion

[Arun_S]

Humm the same URL gave two different results.

[quote name='Austin' date='07 February 2010 - 03:49 PM' timestamp='1265537512' post='103968']

[url="http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article102369.ece?homepage=true"]AGNI-III test-fired successfully - T. S. Subramanian[/url]



India’s longest range nuclear-capable Agni-III was successfully test-fired from the Wheeler Island, off the Orissa coast on Sunday.



The more than 3,500-km range home-grown ballistic missile, believed to be most lethal of the weapon systems developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists, was test-fired at 10.50 hrs and covered the pre-designated range with 100 per cent accuracy, top officials told The Hindu from Wheeler Island soon after the successful launch.



The solid-propelled, two-stage missile can carry nuclear warheads weighing up to 1.5 tonnes. It is 17 metres tall and has a launch weight of 50 tonnes with a two-metre diameter.



When contacted, V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister and Director-General, DRDO, said it was a fantastic launch and a “hat-trick for Agni-III with three successes”. The trajectory went perfectly according to plan till the last decimal place, he said. “It gave us full range and pinpoint accuracy,” he added.



Avinash Chander, Agni-III mission director, called it a “perfect success”, stating that all the mission objectives were met. Chander, also the Director of Advanced Systems Laboratory - which designed and developed the Agni-III - said all the events listed in the launch were executed with accuracy and described it as a “thrilling experience".



A. Sivathanu Pillai, CEO and MD, BrahMos Aerospace, called the success an “important milestone for the country. It will lead to induction of the missile”. The success would bring credit to DRDO scientists, he said.



W. Selvamurthy, Chief Controller, Life Sciences and Human Resources, DRDO also termed it as an “important milestone in developing the country's defence and developing the second strike capability. The flight proved the robustbness of all the systems and software”.



With the third consecutive success of Agni-III, he said “it is now a proven missile. It is a big morale booster for our missile scientists and institutions”, he observed.



A top DRDO missile technologist said the mission was a “good success and the trajectory of the flight was excellent. Everything worked well, including all payload systems”, he added.



Even though the missile did not carry a live warhead, its nuclear triggering mechanism worked well. Instead of a nuclear warhead, it carried chemical explosives, the missile technologist added.

[/quote]





This article URL has been augmented since when Austin posted; now it is follows:



[url="http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article102369.ece?homepage=true&css=print"]Agni-III launch a complete success[/url]

T. S. Subramanian, Y. Mallikarjun



The launch of Agni-III, the missile with the longest range in India’s arsenal, from the Wheeler Island off Orissa on Sunday was a complete success.



Lifting off majestically at 10.50 a.m., it travelled its entire range of 3,500 km. and came down accurately on its target in the Bay of Bengal. [color="#0000ff"]{Arun_S: Notice the target was in Bay Of Bengal, not Indian Ocean (unlike the first successful test of Agni-III. Bay of Bengal ends when it touches Sumatra Islands @ ~1,900 Km. To cross equator the range has to be 2000 Km. Clearly the stated 3,500 km would go far beyond Bay of Bengal}[/color]



During its 800-second flight, it reached an altitude of 350 km. and its re-entry module sliced into the atmosphere, withstanding searing temperatures of 3,000 deg. Celsius.



The two-stage, surface-to-surface ballistic missile can carry nuclear warheads.



The [color="#4169e1"]nuclear triggering mechanism worked well although the missile carried only chemical explosives as payload[/color].



An elated V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, called it “a fantastic launch and a hat-trick.”



Talking to The Hindu from Wheeler Island, he said, “it shows the maturity of the missile’s design and the quality of its systems because we have had three successes in a row without any blemish.”



“The flight gave us the full range and pin-point accuracy. [color="#4169e1"]The missile travelled accurately its entire range to its last decimal place as we had planned.[/color] ”



Jubilation in the control room



As the nuclear-capable Agni-III missile zeroed in on the pre-designated target in the Bay of Bengal with copybook precision, anxiety turned into an all-round jubilation in the control room at Wheeler Island off the Orissa coast on Sunday.



There were loud shouts, clapping, hand-shaking and hugging as missile scientists, software experts and other team members congratulated each other.



“It was all about the success of the efforts put in by DRDO scientists and the anticipation of the user agency of the excellent system being acquired by then,” said a top DRDO official in the control room.



Later, the euphoric staff carried V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister; Avinash Chander, Agni Mission Director; and V.G. Sekaran, Project Director, on their shoulders.



Dr. Saraswat congratulated the scientists for scoring a hat-trick of successes with Agni-III.



He urged them to continue with their hard work and make a grand success of Agni-V, which is planned to be launched by the end of the year.



Feb 8, 2010