India successfully test fires Agni-V, takes a giant stride

India on Thursday conducted a successful test-fire of its indigenously developed nuclear capable Agni-V ballistic missile with a strike range of over 5,000 km from a test range off Odisha coast.

"The mission was successful. The missile hit the target in Indian Ocean in a perfect

way," chief of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), VK Saraswat said.

The three stage, solid propellant missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher from launch complex-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Wheeler Island near here at about 8:05am, defence sources said, describing the successful trial as a milestone in India's missile programme.

After the maiden launch, the Agni-V witnessed a smooth and perfect vertical lift-off from the launcher and thorough analysis was done to assess its health parametres after retrieval of data from all a wide range of sophisticated communication network systems, they said.