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).

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.