India ready to test newly-developed inter-continental ballistic missile Agni-V

India is making preparation for test-firing the newly-developed inter-continental ballistic missile(ICBM) Agni-V to improve the long-range strategic combat capability, Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony said on Friday.

Agni-V was developed after the denial of foreign technology to India, and is ready for its first test-launching, the Indo-Asian News Service reported, citing the defense minister's remarks in Hyderabad, the capital of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

However, the minister declined to disclose the date for the first test-firing of Agni-V.

Agni-V is India's first type of ICBM with the range of more than 5,000 kilometers. It is a developed version of the intermediate-range ballistic missile Agni-III with the range of over 3,000 kilometers. Agni-V has the same diameter as Agni-III, but is five meters longer than the 17-meter-long predecessor.

On Feb. 11, India's Defense Research and Development Organization Director V.K. Saraswat, scientific advisor to the defense minister, said Agni-V was in the subsystem testing phase and would be tested in a year's time.

Source: Xinhua