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Nov. 25 – India has test fired a nuclear-capable, medium-range ballistic missile in Orissa state reports UPI.
Orissa state is located on the east coast of India beside the Bay of Bengal. The Agni II is one of the country’s most advanced with a range of 2,500 miles and is equipped to carry a nuclear warhead weighing 1 ton.
According to UPI, the missiles are being developed by India’s Defense Research Development Organization as part of its defense strategy against its nuclear capable neighbors China and Pakistan.
The Agni II was launched on 7:50 pm, Monday and failed. “The first night test firing … from Orissa’s Wheeler’s Island 10 kilometers from Balasore inside the Bay of Bengal failed,” said an Indian Defense Ministry source quoted by the Global Security Newswire. “This was for the first time, a missile was test-fired at night.”
The missile malfunctioned during the second stage of the launch when it went off-course because of the fuel container possibly not separating.
“The missile might have failed to hit its target due to an operational problem,” a DRDO official told local media. “It has nothing to do with the time of the day.” India has already tested its longest range missiles with a 3,000-kilometer range, the Agni-III missile which analysts say can reach as far as Beijing and Shanghai.
