Nag test fired successfully again`

The indigenous anti-tank missile Nag was successfully test fired for the second consecutive day on Monday from the Interim Test Range at Chandipur, Orissa.

A defence ministry spokesman said the series of flight trials had helped in evaluating the missile's 'control and guidance' for top-attack capability.

The testfire is a major milestone for Nag which is a third generation, heat-seeking, anti-tank guided missile.

Nag is one of the five missiles under the Defence Research and Development Organisation's Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.

The missile, which can be fired from a vehicle or a helicopter, is in advanced stages of development like its sisters Trishul and Akash. All three would enter user trial phase next year.

With these successes, India has now joined a select club of nations which are capable of designing, developing and leading to the production of missile systems, battle tanks, combat aircraft, their variants or derivatives, electronic warfare systems and battlefield expedients.

The IGDMP, comprising the development of four missiles (Prithvi, Trishul, Akash, Nag) and a re-entry technology demonstrator project Agni, was undertaken in 1983.

Trishul is a short-range, low-level, quick-reaction, surface-to-air missile, meant for the three services and capable of being used in sea-skimmer role.

Akash is a medium-range surface-to-air missile, having multiple target handling capability.

And Prithvi, for its part, with a range of 150 kilometres, is meant mainly for the army. It has been successfully flight-evaluated. Its 250 km version for the Indian Air Force has undergone developmental trials and will enter the next phase shortly after its flight evaluation.

Agni's three flight trials have successfully demonstrated its re-entry, manoeuvrable trajectory and guidance technologies. This has given the country an option to develop a missile system capable of delivering conventional payloads at longer ranges with high accuracy.

UNI