Asia-Pacific

India to test-fire short-range missiles

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-27 04:11

MUMBAI: India is expected to test-fire three types of short-range missiles on the weekend, local media reported on Friday evening.

The test of Prithvi-2, a short-range ballistic missile with the range of nearly 290 kilometers, is likely to be conducted on Saturday from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Balasore district of the eastern state of Orissa, the news agency Press Trust of India quoted a defense source as saying.

A naval version of Prithvi, Dhanush, may be test-fired on the same day from a warship off the Orissa coast, according to the source.

Agni-1, a short-range ballistic missile with the range of about 700 kilometers, will be jointly tested from Wheeler Island off the Orissa coast on Sunday by the Army and the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), said the news agency.

India successfully test-fired a vertical-launch version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile off the Orissa coast on March 21. However, its indigenous anti-missile system failed to track and intercept a mocked ballistic missile in the test on March 15.

It will be the first time for the Indian armed forces to test-fire three types of different missiles within two days from the beginning of this year.