India to testfire advanced air defense missile Sunday: sources
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India is to testfire its indigenously developed Advanced Air Defense (AAD) missile off the coast of the eastern state of Orissa Sunday, Defense Ministry sources said Saturday.
"The missile, which is capable of destroying any hostile ballistic missile at a low altitude, will be testfired from the Intergrated Test Range in Wheeler Islanad in Chandipur in the state's Balasore district. The missile is to destroy a target in mid-air over Bay of Bengal. The interception is to take place at low altitude," the sources said.
AAD is an anti-ballistic missile designed to intercept incoming ballistic missiles in endo-atmosphere at an altitude of 30 km. AAD is single stage, solid fueled missile.
On Dec. 2007, AAD successfully intercepted a modified Prithvi- II missile acting as an incoming ballistic missile enemy target. The endo-atmospheric interception was carried out at an altitude of 15 km.
On March 6, 2009, India again successfully tested its missile defense shield, during which an incoming "enemy" missile was intercepted at an altitude of 75 km.
