India test-fires Agni-Prime missile from rail-based mobile launcher, joins select club

For the first time, India has successfully carried out test-firing of the intermediate-range Agni-Prime missile from a rail-based mobile launcher system, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday.

This next-generation missile is designed to cover a range of up to 2,000 kilometres and is equipped with various advanced features.

“The first-of-its-kind launch carried out from specially designed rail-based mobile launcher has the capability to move on rail network without any pre-conditions that allows user to have a cross-country mobility and launch within a short reaction time with reduced visibility,” the Defence Minister posted on X.

This successful flight test has put India in the group of select nations having capabilities to develop a canisterised launch system that have capability to move on a rail network, the Minister added.

So far, missile launchers have been truck-mounted. These specialised trucks are easily identified due to their size giving away vital information about missile movement to the enemy, sources said.

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

Meanwhile, the minister has congratulated the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) and the Armed Forces on successful test of intermediate range Agni-Prime missile.