|
Military scientists tested the medium-range surface-to-air missile Akash, or Sky, from Pokhran, some 200 kilometres (120 miles) from Pakistan's borders last week but gave details of the flight only on Wednesday.
The flight was carried out in near-secrecy from Pokhran, where nine years ago India tested a string of nuclear weapons including a thermo-nuclear device and sparked global sanctions against New Delhi.
"The test was a success and we hope Akash will be inducted very soon into the army," Samir Sinha, spokesman of India's Defence Research and Development Organisation, told AFP in Jodhpur in Rajasthan state.
Sinha did not say why the test was conducted in Rajasthan's Thar desert and not at India's National Missile Testing Range in the eastern state of Orissa, on the opposite side of the country where such tests are normally conducted.
First tested in 1993, Akash can carry a 55-kilogram (121-pound) warhead and has a range of 25 kilometres (15.5 miles).
Community
Asymmetrical Iskander Missile Systems
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Nov 19, 2007
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |