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India Successfully Test-Fires Surface-To-Surface Nuclear Capable 'Agni V' Missile

India Successfully Test-Fires Nuclear Capable 'Agni V' Missile
This photograph released by the Indian Ministry of Defense shows Indiaâs Agni-V missile, with a range of 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles), being launched from Wheeler Island off India's east coast, Thursday, April 19, 2012. India announced the successful test launch Thursday of the new nuclear-capable missile that would give it the capability of striking the major Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai for the first time. (AP Photo/Indian Ministry of Defense)
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This photograph released by the Indian Ministry of Defense shows Indiaâs Agni-V missile, with a range of 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles), being launched from Wheeler Island off India's east coast, Thursday, April 19, 2012. India announced the successful test launch Thursday of the new nuclear-capable missile that would give it the capability of striking the major Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai for the first time. (AP Photo/Indian Ministry of Defense)

India on Saturday successfully conducted the first canister-based trial of its nuclear capable Agni-V missile, which is capable of hitting targets over 5,000 km away, from a military base in Odisha, an official said.

The long range missile was fired from a mobile vehicle at the Inner Wheeler Island, a launch site in the district of Bhadrak, about 200 km from Bhubaneswar.

"It is a canisterised version of the longest range missile. It was tested for the first time from a canister. The test was successful," test range director M.V.K.V. Prasad told IANS.

This was the third launch of the missile, but the first from a canister which would provide the armed forces with operational flexibility to pick and choose from where to launch the missiles.

A canister launch system of the 17 metres long and 2 metres wide missile, which has a launch weight of around 50 tonnes gives the forces the ability to transport the missile by road and rail.

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