‘Agni-III to fly before year-end’

India will test-fire Agni-III, its longest range nuclear-capable missile, by the year-end and has started inducting the short and intermedia...

India will test-fire Agni-III, its longest range nuclear-capable missile, by the year-end and has started inducting the short and intermediate range Agni-I and Agni-II variants in the newly raised Strategic Forces Command.

Disclosing this at the DRDO technology day awards function in the presence of PM Manmohan Singh, DRDO chief M. Natarajan put to rest speculation on the development of Agni-III.

The 3,000-km range missile, the third variant in the Agni series of advanced surface-to-surface missiles, has been ready for tests but it has been postponed twice for technical reasons that developer DRDO has persistently refused to comment on. ‘‘Development of Agni-III missile is on schedule and it would fly by the year-end,’’ Natarajan said. The Agni-III will give scientists the working knowledge and encouragement to build intercontinetal ballistic missiles.

At the function, Ram Narain Aggarwal, the scientist who spearheaded the Agni project, was given a lifetime achievement award. The lifetime achievement award for 2003 went to Lt Gen V.J. Sundaram for developing the support systems for Agni and other missiles that form part of the country’s guided weapons programme.

The Agni-III was ready for tests during the NDA regime. George Fernandes had even announced in 2003 that the missile would be tested by the end of that year. The rescheduled test, planned for the middle of last year, was again deferred after developers found snags in the platform’s propulsion system. Earlier this year, Natarajan said that ‘‘all problems’’ had been rectified.