Glorious Achievement: India successfully test-fires nuke-capable Agni-P missile
By Sudam Kumar Patra.
Balasore, Dec. 18: India on Saturday successfully test-fired the new generation nuclear capable ballistic missile ‘Agni P’ from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam island off the coast of Odisha.
Scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) (DRDO) conducted the flight-test at 11.06 am.
“Various telemetry, radar, electro-optical stations and down range ships positioned along the eastern coast tracked and monitored the missile trajectory and parameters. The missile followed text book trajectory meeting all mission objectives with high level of accuracy,” said a defence ministry official statement.
The Agni P is a two-stage canisterised solid propellant ballistic missile with dual redundant navigation and guidance system. This second flight-test has proven the reliable performance of all the advanced technologies integrated into the system, read the statement.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO scientists for the successful flight-test and expressed his happiness for the excellent performance of the system.
Secretary of defence and chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy appreciated the efforts of the team to have done the second development flight-trial with many additional features and congratulated for the consecutive success within the same calendar year.
Notably, India on December 8 India on Wednesday successfully test-fired the air version of BrahMos cruise missile from supersonic fighter aircraft Sukhoi 30 MK-I off the Odisha coast.
The missile, said to one of the strongest weapons in the country’s arsenal, was launched from an aircraft at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Odisha’s Balassore district. This missile, like Agni P, had followed its pre-planned trajectory and met all the mission objectives, clearing the system for the serial production of air-version BrahMos missiles within the country.
Major airframe assemblies of air-version of Brahmos which form the integral part of the Ramjet Engine are indigenously developed. The airframe assemblies include metallic and non-metallic airframe sections comprising Ramjet fuel tank and pneumatic fuel supply system.
The back to back two copy-book flight tests have come as milestone achievements for the DRDO.
