It was planned as a new year's gift to India this year, but technical glitches and political clearance delayed the launch of the much vaunted Agni III.
Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and top defence officials visited Wheeler Island, near Balasore, in Orissa on Sunday morning and witnessed the launch of Agni III ballistic missile.
The Agni I and Agni II missiles are already a part of the Indian arsenal, the nuclear capable Agni III was ready and all that was necessary was political clearance. With the official approval, the missile was formally test-fired on Sunday morning (July 9).
“We're ready with all technical inputs for a programme of that kind. At an appropriate time whatever is the decision, the follow up action will be taken,” said M Natarajan, Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister in an interview with TIMES NOW in February this year.
Agni’s range of 4,000 km plus is crucial. The Agni III can hit targets virtually everywhere in the neighbourhood from central China to deep into the Indian Ocean and a long way into South-east Asia.
“Certainly it's going to be better than Agni II but the exact range will depend upon the telemetry we carry because telemetry dust adds to the weight of the missile area,” informed Natarajan.
“These are not the products we need to show off our strength but the ones to have certain capability that India needs for a variety of reasons,” Natarajan clarified.
Wheeler Island has a definite mark in Indian defence history after this launch. Apart from the Defence Minister, the three chiefs and the Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy Anil Kakodkar were also present.
India's most sophisticated  (IRBM) to date, the  was test-fired off the Orissa coast earlier today. The missile took off from a fixed platform at the Integrated Test Range at  at 11:05 IST (05:35 GMT) in the presence of Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his scientific advisor M. Natarajan. 

The Agni-II missile being displayed on a mobile launcher during the 2004 Republic Day parade.

The missile took off vertically into space before re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down near  in the Bay of Bengal. Three sophisticated radars, six electro-optical tracking systems and three telemetric data stations on the mainland at Dhamra, Chandipur and the Andamans, together with a ship anchored near the splash-down point monitored the missile's trajectory. According to eyewitnesses, the missile blasted off into the sky leaving behind a trail of thick yellow smoke and disappeared out of sight into the clouds within seconds. 

The Agni-III, which has a range of 3,500 km and can carry up to 1000 kg of payload, has been described as the most powerful missile developed by India's . The missile, which is 16 metres long and has a diametre of 1.8 metres, has solid fuel boosters and is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads. The Agni-I and Agni-II, which were the earlier versions of the Agni series developed under the  (IGMDP), have already been inducted into the Indian Army. Boosters for the earlier two missiles had been provided by the , however, the Agni-III uses an entirely new booster vehicle.


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