Nuclear-capable Indian missile fails in maiden trial

NEW DELHI: Indian army was on Saturday left embarrassed after the maiden night test of nuclear-capable Agni-III missile ended in failure, according to a report published by Indian news publication New Indian Express.

The mission ended in failure after the nuclear missile crashed into the sea in Odisha. According to reports to the Indian publication, the missile deviated from its flight path and the mission team had to terminate it.

“Starting from the launch to the first phase separation, everything was smooth in accordance with the mission plan but suddenly it started behaving abnormally” the publication quoted sources as saying.

“It could possibly be due to metallurgical defects,” it added. The missile, which could carry both conventional and nuclear warheads weighing up to 1.5 tonnes, had already been inducted in the inventory back in 2011.

Two other variants of the missile, Agni-I and Agni-II, have failed during both development and user trials in the past. Agni-II had failed to deliver desired result during its first night trial in 2009.