India test-fired a short-range, surface-to-air missile on Friday, the second such launch in two days, a defense ministry official said. The homemade Trishul was fired from a mobile launcher in the eastern state of Orissa at 11:30 a.m., Amitabha Chakrabarti, the defense ministry spokesman, said. "It was a routine test. We will be carrying out further tests over the next few days," he said. The supersonic Trishul is capable of targeting aircraft and sea-skimming missiles. The solid-fuel missile can carry a warhead of up to 33 pounds. It has a range of about five miles and a radar guidance system. Trishul is used by India’s army, navy and air force. "The repeated test firings are to check the different parameters of the missile. Before it is inducted into the armed forces, we have to carry out many trials," Chakrabarti said. A Pakistan foreign ministry official, who did not want to be named, said Islamabad does not comment on tests of such short-range missiles by India.
A Pakistan defense ministry official, however, slapped his forehead repeatedly and walked away muttering "how in the hell are we going to counter that?" |