Indicating that another test of the country's most advanced nuclear-capable Agni-III missile is in the offing, top defence scientist M Natarajan on Sunday said the DRDO was close to developing a supersonic fighter trainer.

"Along with undertaking full development of the air force and naval versions of the Light Combat Aircraft, we have developed the capability of making in the shortest time of next 10 years a supersonic fighter trainer," Natarajan said during an appearance in the show In Conversation on Doordarshan.

The second test of the Agni-III was in the offing, he said. The first launch of the missile last year was a failure.

The chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation said a multi-mode radar had been mounted on the LCA for the first time. A breakthrough had been made in installing a phased array radar on the LCA and a beyond visual range air-to-air missile was also in the final stages of development, he said.

"The LCA will give India a platform to develop a medium combat aircraft of 20 tonnes soon," he said, while facing a barrage of questions on the huge time and cost over-runs in the DRDO's strategic weapons programmes.

While agreeing that some of the major projects had been delayed, Natarajan said the DRDO had at the same time tasted success in other strategic programmes.

While indicating that a fresh test of the 3,000-km range Agni-III was in the offing soon, he did not give a definitive timeframe for the launch. The first test of Agni-III ended in failure when its second stage failed to separate, resulting in the missile plunging into sea within seconds of lift-off.

Virtually admitting that the DRDO had taken on more than it could chew, Natarajan said a review could be undertaken to off-load some projects to the private sector.

The DRDO is currently working on 20 major projects cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security that involve an investment of over Rs 100 crore. These projects include missiles, LCA, main battle tank and anti-electronic warfare systems.

"We would like to concentrate on the major strategic sectors," he said.