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Trishul takes to the seas, Agni to get more fire

The defence ministry today announced that it had successfully tested a new version of the short range surface to air missile Trishul.

"These tests provide the navy with a state of the art, quick reaction surface to air missile for use on indigenously built ships," a defence ministry statement said.

Defence Minister George Fernandes, meanwhile, said the government had approved plans to take the ballistic missile Agni into an advanced state of development.

Responding to a question raised in zero hour in Parliament, Fernandes informed the Rajya Sabha, in a written reply, that "The government has approved the next phase of Agni for development of a longer range system, using state of the art technologies developed indigenously."

Agni, with a rated range of 1,500 km, is expected to spearhead India's deterrent against China.

The planned development is part of an overall plan of development put in place in keeping with India's security needs, a defence ministry spokesman elaborated.

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