Indian interceptor missile test fails

Mar 15, 2010, 9:20 GMT

New Delhi - A military test of India's interceptor missile drew a blank Monday, after the target missile went off course and failed to trigger the interceptor's radar, defence sources said.

'The coordinated exercise between target missile and the interceptor could not take place properly during the planned trial,' the sources said.

The indigenously developed Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor missile is part of the multi-layer ballistic missile defence system that India has been developing for over a decade.

The test of the missile, designed to destroy hostile ballistic missiles at low-altitude trajectories, had been postponed from Sunday due to technical problems, the sources said.

At Monday's test, the surface-to-surface ballistic missile Prithvi serving as target veered off course after the first 11 kilometres and failed to trigger the radar of the interceptor, which did not launch, the sources added.

The Prithvi was fired from a test range on the Orissa coast, while the interceptor was to have launched from an island in the Bay of Bengal about 70 kilometres away.

'The ADD missile has undergone three successful tests earlier. These things happen during development,' the defence sources said.

The 7-metre interceptor is a single stage, rocket-propelled guided missile. It has a secure data link for interception, independent tracking and homing capabilities and radars, according to PTI news agency.

Nuclear-capable South Asian neighbours India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars, routinely engage in tit-for-tat missile tests. They have an agreement under which prior notice is given to the other about such tests or other defence exercises.

Pakistan test-fired naval missiles and torpedoes in the Arabian Sea on Friday.

The tests came around a month after India fired its nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Agni-III missile.