For first time, India test-fires Agni-Prime from train

India has, for the first time, tested the Agni-Prime missile using a mobile railway track-based launcher, an action that has placed the country in the group of select nations having capability to launch such a weapon system from the rail network.

The next-generation missile is equipped with several advanced features and can cover a distance up to 2,000 km, the Ministry of Defence said.

A day after the next-generation missile was tested, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday that the "first-of-its-kind" launch carried out from specially designed rail-based mobile launcher had the capability to move on rail network without any pre-conditions. “It allows users to have a cross-country mobility and launch within a short reaction time with reduced visibility,” Rajnath posted on X.

Sources said the previous missile launchers were truck-mounted and could be easily identified due to their size, thus giving away vital information about missile movement to the enemy.

A rail-based launcher is like any other rail wagon that can be moved across the country on existing railway tracks. It can be stopped at any place to launch the missile and the launcher moves away quickly to evade a strike back. A truck-mounted launcher needs a road or dirt track to move, which restricts its ability to avoid detection via satellites or surveillance drones.

The "road mobile" variant of Agni-Prime has already been inducted into the services after a series of successful flight trials. The test-firing of the missile comes over four-and-half-months after the four-day military conflict between India and Pakistan.