India test fires nuclear capable missile
Pastor Dale Morgan
India test fires nuclear capable missile*
Sun, 25 Mar 2007 12:54:07
India has test fired it's indigenously made air-to-air missile in the
eastern province of Orissa, the third such test since May 2003, defense
officials said.
The missile was fired on Sunday from the Integrated Test Range at
Chandipur, 200 kilometers (125 miles) from provincial capital,
Bhubaneswar, AFP reported.
According to defense sources, the missile has a strike-range of 20 to 80
kilometers and can travel at twice the speed of sound.
The single-stage solid-fuel missile can carry a 15 kilogram (33 pounds)
conventional warhead, sources said.
The test comes three days after neighboring Pakistan test-fired a
nuclear-capable radar-dodging cruise missile with a range of 700
kilometers (435 miles).
India and Pakistan have routinely conducted missile tests since carrying
out tit-for-tat nuclear detonations in May 1998.
Both nuclear states have fought three wars since their independence in 1947.
However, in 2004, they launched a slow-moving peace process aimed at
ending six decades of hostility and resolving some of the outstanding
disputes that caused the wars.