India:  Agni 1 Needs One Final Test, Defense Minister Says

India’s short-range Agni 1 ballistic missile needs only one more test before production can begin, Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes said Wednesday (see GSN, June 11).

The development of the 700-kilometer-range Agni 1 is finished and “the government proposes to go ahead with one more test of the missile before its induction,” Fernandes told the Indian Parliament.  The missile will be inducted into the Indian Army once serial production begins, which is expected to be by the end of the year, a senior Indian Defense Ministry official said.

Aerospace Daily reported that India’s 2,000-kilometer-range Agni 2 is already in serial production at Bharat Dynamics in Hyderabad (see GSN, March 15).  In addition, a 3,000-kilomter-range Agni 3 and an Agni 4 ICBM remain in development (Bulbul Singh, Aerospace Daily, July 26).

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