Agni III Test Fired Successfully

A new dimension to India's missile programme. Agni-III, the nuclear-capable missile was test-fired from the Interim Test Range (ITR) at the Wheeler's Island in the Bay of Bengal off Orissa Coast. It is to be recalled the earlier launch of the missile in July 2006 was a failure with the missile going into flame within seconds of its test-fire. This time, it was a great success for the Indian scientists who worked hard to rectify all the faults associated with the previous launch.

Agni-III is a 4,000-km intermediate range ballistic missile with nuclear capacity. It supports a wide range of warheads, conventional and nuclear, with a payload ranging from 600 to 1,800 kilograms (1,320 to 3,960 pounds) including decoys and other anti-ballistic counter-measures. Some big cities such as Shanghai and Beijing come under the range of Agni-III, which is likely to strengthen India's power in Asia.