The Trishul was fired from a mobile launcher at 11.20 am (O550 GMT) at a moving airborne target from the missile testing range in Chandipur in the eastern state of Orissa, the spokesman said.

The testing of the Trishul, India's version of the US-made Patriot missile, was the ninth since June.

The missile -- one of five developed by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation since 1983 -- is powered by solid fuel.

The ongoing tests are meant to gauge the accuracy of the Trishul, which can deliver a 15-kilogram (33-pound) warhead up to nine kilometers (five miles) away, officials said.

The missile is being developed for the army, navy and airforce.

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