Bhadrak (Orissa), Feb 7 (IANS) India Sunday tested its indigenous long-range nuclear- capable Agni-III missile, catapulting the country into a select group of nations that have intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM)-capability, defence sources said.

The 3,000-km range missile, which is capable of carrying warheads weighing up to 1.5 tonnes, was tested from the Inner Wheeler Island at Dhamra, a launch site in Bhadrak district, about 200 km from Orissa capital Bhubaneswar, at 10.46 a.m.

This is the fourth test of the missile. The first test, from the same defence base on July 9, 2006, was unsuccessful. The second stage of the rocket had failed to separate from the missile quickly enough and the missile had fallen short of its target.

The DRDO-developed missile was tested again on April 12, 2007, and May 9, 2008, respectively and both the tests were successful.

Agni-III, one of the Agni series missiles, is a two-stage solid propellant missile with a length of 17 mt, diameter 2 mt and launch weight of 50 tonnes.

While Agni-I is a 750-800 km short-range missile, Agni-II has a range of more than 1,500 km. Both have already been inducted into the armed forces.