India has successfully test-fired the Agni-Prime missile with a range of 2,000 km from a rail-based mobile launcher system, demonstrating its capability to deploy the missile across the country.
A day after the next-generation missile was tested, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday that it put India in the group of select nations having capability to launch such a weapon system from the rail network.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with the Strategic Forces Command (SFC), carried out the "successful" launch of intermediate range Agni-Prime missile under a full operational scenario on Wednesday, the defence ministry said.
It has not disclosed the location of test-firing of the weapon system.
The "first-of-its-kind" launch carried out from specially designed rail-based mobile launcher, has the capability to move on rail network without any pre-conditions and it allows users to have a cross country mobility and launch within a short reaction time, Singh said.
"This successful flight test has put India in the group of select nations having capabilities that have developed canisterised launch system from on the move rail network," he said on X.
The ministry said the missile is equipped with all independent launch capability features, including the state-of-the-art communication systems and protection mechanisms.
"The missile trajectory was tracked by various ground stations and it was a text book launch meeting all mission objectives. This successful launch will enable futuristic rail-based systems induction into services," it said.
The launch was witnessed by senior scientists of the DRDO and officers of Strategic Forces Command.
The "road mobile" variant of Agni-Prime has already been inducted into the services after a series of successful flight trials.
The test-firing of the missile came over four-and-half-months after the four-day military conflict between India and Pakistan.