India tests surface-to-air Missile for the second time in 3 days
Pakistan Times Monitoring Report

BHUBANESWAR (India): India successfully tested an Indian-built surface-to-air missile for the second time in two days, a defence ministry official said.

The missile Akash -- meaning sky in Hindi -- was tested at a range in eastern Orissa state.

It was fired at 11:15 am [05:45 GMT] from a mobile launcher at the Chandipur-on-Sea testing range, 200 kilometres (125 miles) northeast of Bhubaneswar, Orissa's state capital, the ministry official said.

The 700 kilogramme (1,540 pound) missile, which hit a flying drone, was last tested on Friday.

The Target

Akash, which can track 100 targets simultaneously with onboard radar, can move at a speed of 600 metres (1,980 feet) a second and deliver a 55 kilogramme (121 pound) warhead across 27 kilometres (17 miles) in 50 seconds.

Akash is being developed by the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation which launched in 1983 a project to build an array of weapons.

It hopes to cap the programme with a ballistic missile which can fly 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles).

An earlier story said that India has successfully test-fired its medium-range surface-to-air missile 'Akash' for the second time in the last three days from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur-on-sea, about 15 km from Balasore in Orissa.

ITR sources said the missile, with a range of 25 km and considered to be one of the major milestones of the country's integrated guided missile development programme, was testfired at 11.13 am.

Akash was earlier successfully testfired from the ITR on 17th June.

Scientists at the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO)and the ITR witnessed the testfire.

The missile, possessing an advanced booster and ramjet propulsion, has multiple target handling capability.

In 1999, a year after India and Pakistan tested nuclear weapons, the two countries agreed to notify each other ahead of missile tests.

Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, who came close to war in 2002 but whose relations have warmed since, frequently test-fire missiles.●