India's most sophisticated short range surface-to-air missile 'Trishul' was test fired from the integrated test range at Chandipur, 15 km from Balasore, Thursday afternoon, defence sources said.

The sleek missile was fired from a mobile launcher at about 4.15 pm. It was targeted at a para-barrel dropped from a chopper, the sources said.

The solid fuel propelled missile has a triple battlefield role for the army, air force and navy. With a range of nine km, Trishul is part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. The missile has a length of three metres and diameter of 200 cm and flies at supersonic speed.