India’s nuclear-capable medium-range Agni-II missile failed to hit its target when being test-fired for the first time, according to the Times of India on November 24.

India test-fired the surface-to-surface missile from Wheeler’s Island off the coast of Orissa at around 19:50 p.m (14:20 GMT).

The liftoff and the first stage of separation went smoothly, but it faltered during the second stage of separation and deviated from its planned path, said an official from India’s Ministry of Defence.

The entire trajectory of the trial was tracked by a battery of sophisticated radars, telemetry observation stations, electro-optic instruments and a naval ship.

The Agni-II, with a range of up to 2,000 km, measures 20 metres in length, one metre in diameter and weighs over 16 tonnes./.