Antony on Agni V launch: India stands tall

April 19, 2012 11:01

Defence minister AK Antony on Thursday described the maiden test flight of Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Agni-V as an "immaculate success" and a "major milestone".

"The nation stands tall today. We have joined the elite club of nations (to possess the ICBM related stories India successfully test fires Agni-V, takes a giant stride capability)," Antony told the DRDO chief VK Saraswat on phone after the test flight of the missile was declared successful today.

"The immaculate success of the Agni-V is a major milestone in the country's missile research and development programme," he said. The about 5,000 km range Agni-V was launched from a test range at Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha at 0807 hours and took 15 minutes to reach its target in Southern Indian Ocean.

The missile achieved all the mission parameters and has turned out to be a huge success, defence ministry officials said. The launch was cancelled last night due to bad weather and a spate of heavy lightning in the test range.

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