India on Monday successfully test-fired a new variant of the nuclear-capable Agni ballistic missile. Having a range of 1,000km to 2,000 km, this missile will give operational flexibility to the armed forces.

Indigenously designed and built by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the missile, named Agni Prime, was successfully tested after it was launched from the Dr A P J Abdul Kalam island off the coast of Balasore, Odisha at 10.55 am.

The new generation missile was tracked by various telemetry and radar stations positioned along the eastern coast.  The missile followed text book trajectory, meeting all mission objectives with high level of accuracy, officials said here.

Agni Prime is a new generation advanced variant of Agni class of missiles. It is a canisterised missile. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Monday congratulated the DRDO for successfully flight testing the missile.

“Congratulations to @DRDO_India for the maiden successful flight test of Agni P advanced variant of Agni class of missiles. I compliment the efforts of the team behind this mission,” he tweeted.

He said many advanced technologies, including propulsion systems, innovative guidance and control mechanisms and state-of-the-art navigation systems have been introduced in the missile.

Agni Prime is a next-generation, nuclear-capable weapon made fully of a composite material,

Two days ago, the DRDO successfully test fired an extended range version of the indigenously developed ‘Pinaka’ rocket.