India Make 'Flawless' Launch Of Long-Range Missile

Less than a week after North Korea's unsuccessful satellite launch, India has managed a "flawless" test of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The Agni-V was launched from Wheeler Island off India's east coast and hit its target area off the coast of Indonesia about 20 minutes later.

The 55-foot-tall Agni, Sanskrit for "Fire", is said to be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and with a range of 3,100 miles and could hit targets inside China. India fought a bitter border war with Beijing in the early 1960s and still considers China — and of course neighbor Pakistan — military rivals.

It was the first time that India had tested a three-stage solid-fueled missile. In contrast, North Korea's test last week involved a three-stage liquid-fueled rocket.

For decades, New Delhi has been honing its space launch and ballistic missile capability. It has deployed short- and medium-range missiles, a ship-based cruise missile and is able to put its own satellites into orbit.

"With this missile launch, India has emerged as a major missile power," Defense Ministry science advisor V.K. Sarawat told The Hindu newspaper. "We have joined a select group of countries possessing technology to design, develop, build and manufacture long range missiles of this class and technological complexity."

The Hindu says the missile was tipped with a dummy payload but that it would be capable of carrying a 1.1 ton nuclear warhead.

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