Bhadrak, Orissa: With a final test of its capabilities going well yesterday, the indigenous nuclear-capable Agni-III missile has consolidated the country's position among a select group of nations that boast an intermediate-range ballistic missile-capability, defence sources said.

With a range of over 3,000 kilometres and capable of carrying warheads weighing up to 1.5 tonnes, the Agni-III was tested from the Inner Wheeler Island at Dhamra, a launch site in Bhadrak district, about 200 km from the Orissa state capital Bhubaneswar.

This is the fourth test of the country's most powerful missile which has the capability to hit deep inside China, bringing cities like Shanghai and Beijing within its potent reach.

"The test was highly successful. It met all the mission objectives. All the events took place as expected," S.P. Dash, director of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) said from the test site.

The Agni III is now set for induction into the armed forces with the just-concluded test being its last trial, the official said.

Initial failure

The first test on July 9, 2006, from the same defence base, had been unsuccessful. The second stage of the rocket had failed to separate from the missile quickly enough and the missile had fallen short of its target. The missile was tested again on April 12, 2007, and May 9, 2008, respectively and both the tests were successful.

Agni-III, one of the Agni series missiles, is a two-stage solid-propellant missile with a length of 17 metres, a diameter of 2 metres and a launch weight of 50 tonnes. While Agni-I boasts a range of between 750 to 800 kilometres, Agni-II has a range of more than 1,500 kilometres. Agni-I and Agni-II have already been inducted into the armed forces.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony termed the test of Agni-III a remarkable achievement and congratulated Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief V.K. Saraswat and other scientists for making it a success.

More than a hundred defence scientists witnessed the test including Avinash Chandra, director of the Agni-III programme.