India's Test Long Range Agni IV Nuclear Capable Missile

India's new long-range, nuclear-capable Agni-IV missile struck its target during a Nov. 15 test at the Wheeler Island range in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, the Defence Ministry reported.

Ministry sources said the Agni IV, an advanced version of the Army's Agni II missile, has a range of more than 3,000 kilometers and can carry a payload of 1 metric ton.

The two-stage missile is powered by solid fuel and can be fired from a mobile launcher.

"This missile is one of its kind, proving many new technologies for the first time, and represents a quantum leap in terms of missile technology," according to the ministry's official statement, released Nov. 15. "The Missile is lighter in weight and has two stages of Solid Propulsion and a Payload with Re-entry heat shield. The Composite Rocket Motor, which has been used for the first time, has given excellent performance.

"The Missile System is equipped with modern and compact Avionics with Redundancy to provide high level of reliability," the statement continued. "The indigenous Ring Laser Gyro-based high accuracy INS (RINS) and Micro Navigation System (MINGS) complementing each other in redundant mode have been successfully flown in guidance mode for the first time. The high-performance onboard computer with distributed Avionics architecture, high-speed reliable communication bus and a full Digital Control System have controlled and guided the Missile to the target."

Defence Research and Development Organisation spokesman Ravi Gupta told Agence France-Presse, "All the parameters have been met and it was a very successful test."

Gupta said the missile was fired beyond the Bay of Bengal into the Indian Ocean.

A previous test of the Agni IV on Dec. 10 failed after the missile went off its trajectory and plunged into the sea.

Agence France-Presse contributed to this report from Bhubaneswar, India.

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