DRDO gears up for Agni-II Prime and Agni-V ICBM tests
07 Oct 2011
Buoyed by successful tests of three surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, India's Defence and Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is gearing up to test the 'Agni-II Prime' medium range missile from its missile testing facility at Wheeler Island, off the coast of the state of Orissa. As part of user trials, the tri-services Strategic Forces Command tested the hypersonic Shaurya, the short range Prithvi-II and the medium range (standard version) Agni-II missiles the previous month on 24, 26 and 30 September.
''The two stages of Agni-II Prime, their rocket motors and the re-entry vehicle are ready,'' Dr VK Saraswat, director general, DRDO said.
Tessy Thomas, project director, Agni-II Prime, confirmed that the missile would be tested in the first week of November and that all preparations for the launch had been made.
The two-stage missile has a range of 3,000 km.
The Prime would be fired from a road-mobile launcher. Ms Thomas has said that a problem in the control system of Agni-II Prime, experienced in its maiden flight in December 2010 had been located and overcome.
It has also been confirmed that the DRDO is hard at work preparing for the maiden launch of the Agni-V Inter Continental Ballistic Missile in December. The three-stage, surface-to-surface missile will have a range of 5,000 km away, marginally short of the 5,500 km range required for a missile to be dubbed a true ICBM.
