NEW DELHI, June 6 (UPI) -- In August India will launch its maiden long-range Agni-III missile off the southern Orissa coast, upgrading its missile program.
"There are some technologies relating to special systems which will be evaluated during this intervening gap," said the Defense Research and Development Organization.
The Hindu newspaper said Wednesday that the Agni-III, a surface-to-surface missile, has a range of 3,500 kilometers (2,100 miles). It will carry nuclear warheads and is the most powerful missile to have been built by India.
The DRDO said the launch, originally slated for January or February this year, was postponed because of the visit of U.S. President George W. Bush to India in March. The nuclear cooperation agreement signed during that visit included India's plans to separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities.
A local news report said that the July 2005 joint Indo-U.S. statement called on the U.S. Congress to amend laws to allow the export of nuclear power reactors to India after India submitted its separation list.
A DRDO official said the Indian federal government decided to hold the launch of the Agni-III until Congress amended the law. But it could be October or November before Congress does so.
"We will not wait till then," the DRDO official said, adding it would be risky to launch the Agni-III during the peak southwest monsoon period of June and July.
"We have so many new technologies (in Agni-III). We will be testing them one-by-one in June and July," he said.
Visiting U.S. top General Peter Pace said the United States would not see test-firing of the Agni-III as destabilizing.
