A surface-to-surface Agni V missile is launched from the Wheeler Island off the eastern Indian state of Orissa.
A surface-to-surface Agni V missile is launched from the Wheeler Island off the eastern Indian state of Orissa. (A file photo)Reuters

India is on a missile testing spree, test firing four indigenously built surface-to-air Akash missiles in just five days.

Just on the heels of launching two Akash missiles on May 24 and 26, India test fired two more such missiles on Monday at around 11: 10 am from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, Odisha.

It is the third time the Indian Air Force (IAF) has conducted the test in the last five days. The IAF successfully test fired Akash on May 24 and 26.

"The user-specific trial, which formed part of the country's routine air defence exercises, was successful," a Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) official associated with the Akash missile project had told PTI on May 24.

"During the trial, the missile was aimed at intercepting a floating object supported by a pilotless target aircraft, flown from launch complex-II, at a definite altitude over the sea," added a source.

The test firings of the surface-to- air missile came just a little more than a month after India launched Agni-V that has a range of more than 5,000 kilometers.

Instead of test firing from the launching complex-II of the ITR, the IAF created a war-like situation for the test. It is the first test firing of the missile by the IAF after it was officially inducted on March 3, 2012.

Akash is a medium range surface-to-air anti-aircraft defence system developed by the DRDO as part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. It has a strike range of 25 km and can carry a warhead of 60 kgs. It has the capability to target aircraft up to 30 km away and is packed with battery that can track and attack several targets simultaneously.

With the capability to neutralise aerial targets like fighter jets, cruise missiles, air-to-surface missiles etc, defence experts compare Akash to the American MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile system.