India to test Agni III+ ballistic missile in 2009

Visakhapatnam (PTI): India will test indigenously built Agni III+ ballistic missile with a strike range of more than 5000 km in 2009.

The long-range missile is currently in the design stage, V K Saraswat, Chief Controller (R&D) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said here on Monday.

"We are looking for trial in early 2009," he told reporters on the sidelines of the 95th Indian Science Congress here.

After the induction of the surface-to-air missile Akash by the Air Force, the Army is starting user trials for the sophisticated anti-tank Nag missiles this summer.

"User trials for Nag will be held in May-June in the Rajasthan desert," Saraswat said.

Nag is an all weather anti-tank guided missile. Design work on the missile started in 1988 and the first tests were carried out in November 1990.

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