BHUBANESWAR (AFP) — India successfully tested its surface-to-air Akash missile for the third time in as many days, defence officials said.
The missile blasted off from the Chandipur-on-Sea testing site in Orissa state on India's eastern coast on Saturday afternoon, officials said.
The two earlier tests this week at the testing site 200 kilometres (125 miles) northeast of state capital Bhubaneswar were also described as successful.
The 700-kilogramme (1,540-pound) Akash, whose name means "sky" in Hindi, has a striking range of 27 kilometres and can carry a 55-kilogramme warhead.
Tests of the missile are likely to continue this week as India's Defence Research and Development Organisation finetunes the weapon for use by the Air Force, the officials said.
The tests came days after India announced plans to increase its nuclear capability with a ballistic missile capable of hitting targets up to 6,000 kilometres away.
India has built a range of ballistic and cruise missiles as a deterrent to neighbours China and Pakistan.
It has fought three wars with Pakistan since their 1947 independence as well as a brief but bitter border war with China in 1962.
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