Agence France-Presse, India on Dec. 19 tested its surface-to-air Akash missile twice, the latest in a series of tests of the short-range, defensive weapon, defense officials said.
The missile blasted off from the Chandipur-on-Sea testing site in Orissa state on India’s eastern coast in successful back-to-back afternoon tests, officials with India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation said.
Three tests last week at the testing site 125 miles northeast of the state capital, Bhubaneswar, were also described as successful and included knocking flying targets out of the sky.
The 1,540-pound Akash, whose name means “sky” in Hindi, has a striking range of 27 kilometers and can carry a 55-kilogram warhead.
Tests of the missile were likely to continue this week to fine-tune the weapon for use by the air force, officials said.
The tests began as India announced plans last week to increase its nuclear capability with a ballistic missile capable of hitting targets up to 6,000 kilometers away.
India has built a range of ballistic and cruise missiles as a deterrent to neighbors China and Pakistan.
It has fought three wars with Pakistan since their 1947 independence as well as a brief but bitter border war with China in 1962.
