DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY 2013
First test launch
The Agni V was successfully test-fired by DRDO On 19 April 2012 at 08.05 am from Wheeler Island off the coast of Orissa. The test launch was made from the Launch Complex 4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Wheeler Island using a rail mobile launcher. The flight time lasted 20 minutes and the third stage fired the re-entry vehicle into the atmosphere at an altitude of 100 kilometres (62 mi). The missile re-entry vehicle subsequently impacted the pre-designated target point more than 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi) away in the Indian Ocean. The director of the test range, S.P. Das, informed BBC that all test parameters were met. According to news reports the Agni-V was able to hit the target nearly at pin-point accuracy, within a few metres of the designated target point. Chinese experts say that the missile has the potential to reach targets 8000 km away and that the Indian government had deliberately downplayed the missile's capability in order to avoid causing concern to other countries.
Second test launch
On September 15, 2013 India conducted a second test flight of Agni-V from the Wheeler Island off Odisha coast. The missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher from Launch Complex 4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at about 8:50 am. The flight duration was little over 20 minutes and hit the pre-designed target in the Indian Ocean with an accuracy of a few metres.
INS Vikramaditya (R33) is a Project 11430 modified Kiev-class aircraft carrier which entered into service with the Indian Navy in 2013. The ship has been renamed in honour of Vikramaditya, a legendary 1st century BC emperor of Ujjain, India.
On 3 July 2013, Igor Sevastyanov, deputy head of Russia's state arms
exporter Rosoboronexport, announced that the warship had departed for
sea trials with a mix of Russian and Indian crew. On 28 July 2013, it was reported that Vikramaditya had successfully completed her sea trials and was able to reach her maximum speed of 32 knots.
