Bhubaneswar, March 6 (IANS) India Sunday successfully tested a ballistic missile interceptor from a defence base in Orissa as part of its endeavour to create a shield against incoming enemy missiles, officials said.
The indigenous interceptor was fired from Wheeler Island off the Orissa coast near Dhamra in Bhadrak district, about 170 km from here.
It successfully destroyed an incoming ballistic missile - a variant of the Prithvi II fired from Integrated Test Range at Chandipur on sea in Balasore district, about 70 km away from Wheeler Island across the sea.
The interceptor was fired few minutes after the target missile was fired.
"It was a fantastic mission. It successfully hit the target," S.P. Dash, the director of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, told IANS.
Defence ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said the endo-atmospheric interceptor missile hit the target missile at an altitude of about 16 km.