India has successfully testfired its home-made nuclear-capable surface-to-air missile Agni 1 1307123.

Massive preparations have been underway for the test since over a fortnight by defence scientists and Army personnel, with heavy security arrangement along the sea coast.

Though Agni-I was initially planned to be tested in May, the test was deferred till July reportedly due to some problems during the integration of the missile with the tracking systems and other sub-systems.

The Agni-I is short-range and surface-based ballistic missile in the Agni series. It has a strike range of 700-900 km. Compared it its longer range cousins, its height is just 15 metres and it is powered by both solid and liquid propellants, which imparts it a speed of 2.5 km per second.

This missile was first test-fired on January 25, 2002 and since then several trails have been conducted. It is designed to bridge the gap between indigenously built short-range Prithvi, already deployed in the Army, and medium range Agni-II that has a range of more than 2,000 km, sources said.