India Wednesday successfully test-fired its Akash medium-range surface-to-air missile from a defence base in Odisha, for the third time in less than a week, officials said.

 

 The indigenously-developed missile, with a 27-km range and an effective ceiling of 15 km, was test-fired from the Integrated Test Range of Chandipur in the coastal district of Balasore, 230 km from Bhubaneswar.

 

 All three tests were conducted for the army by scientists of state-run missile system manufacturer Bharat Dynamic Limited, and defence electronics company Bharat Electronics.

 

 "The test was successful," test range director M.V.K.V. Prasad told IANS. Akash was earlier successfully tested from the same defence base Feb 21 and 24. The 700-kg all-weather missile can carry a 60-kg warhead at speeds of up to Mach 2.5. It can operate autonomously and simultaneously engage and neutralise different aerial targets.

 

 The missile can be launched from static or mobile platforms, enabling flexible deployment by the armed forces. Some more tests of the missile is likely to be conducted from the same base in March and April, he said.