ICBM launch from India

[CambCelt]

BBC News - India test launches Agni-V long-range missile

India has successfully launched a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile able to carry a nuclear warhead, officials say.

The Agni-V was launched from a site off India's east coast and took about 20 minutes to hit its target somewhere near Indonesia in the Indian Ocean.

The missile has a range of more than 5,000km (3,100 miles), potentially bringing targets in China within range.

India said the launch was "flawless" and the missile had reached its target.

"The ships located in mid-range and at the target point have tracked the vehicle [missile] and witnessed the final event," Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) spokesman Ravi Gupta said.

With this, India joins an elite nuclear club of China, Russia, France, the US and UK which already have long-range missiles, although with a much greater range. Israel is also thought to possess them.

"It was a perfect launch. It met all the test parameters and hit its pre-determined target," SP Das, director of the test range, told the BBC. He confirmed the missile had flown more than 5,000km before reaching the target.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated the scientists for the "successful launch" of the missile. It was launched from Wheeler Island off the coast of the eastern state of Orissa at 0807 local time (0237GMT) on Thursday.

[Earl]

Dicks.

[CambCelt]

Bit of a waste of money when they have so many poor folk who are hungry.

Not quite as daft as the North Korean efforts though.