India test fires Agni II nuclear-capable ballistic missile


February 20, 2018, India has performed test fires of its local-made Agni II nuclear-capable ballistic missile, this the third test of ballistic missile systems by Indian armed forces in February 2018, after the Agni-I Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile and Prithvi-II tactical surface-to-surface short-range ballistic missile under the control of the India’s Strategic Forces Command and Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO).


India test fires Agni II nuclear capable ballistic missile February 2018 925 001
An Agni-II on a road-mobile launcher displayed at the Republic Day Parade 2004 in New Delhi, India. (Picture source Wikipedia)


The test fires of the surface-to-surface ballistic missile Agni II was conducted from a mobile launcher at the Launch Complex-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at around 8.38 am, Indian Defense sources said.

The Agni-II is a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) developed locally by Indian Defense Industry in collaboration with the DRDO, the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization. The Agni-II was first tested on 11 April 1999 at 9:47 am IST (Indian Standard Time), from a converted rail carriage.

The Agni-II is always in a ready-to-fire mode and can be launched within 15 minutes as compared to the almost half-of-a-day preparation time for the previous generation of Agni missile. It has a maximum firing range of 2,000 km and is equipped with advanced high accuracy navigation system.

The Agni II missile has a weight of 17,000 kg and can carry a payload of 1,000 kg maximum, including nuclear warhead.