India successfully test-fired the Agni IV Intermediate Range ballistic missile today with a strike range of 4000 km as part of a user trial from a test range off Odisha coast.

It is supported by a mobile launcher, the surface-to-surface missile was flight tested from launch complex-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Dr Abdul Kalam Island, formerly known as Wheeler Island, at about 11.55 hours, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) sources said.

The 4000-km range nuclear weapons-capable strategic missile, Agni-IV has been successfully test fired from Balasore (Odisha).

— ANI (@ANI) January 2, 2017

The successful trial of Agni-IV came close on the heels of a similar test on December 26, 2016 of long range missile Agni 5 which was successfully carried out from the same launch site.

Describing the trial as successful, they said this was the 6th trial of the indigenously developed Agni-IV missile which met the mission objectives. The last trial conducted by the specially formed strategic force command (SFC) of Indian Army on November 9, 2015, was also successful.

Here’s all you need to know about the missile:

• On Monday, the Strategic Forces Command flight-tested the Agni-IV missile from a road-mobile launcher on the Abdul Kalam Island off Damra village on the Odisha coast.
• The Agni IV is an intermediate range ballistic missile with a strike range of 4,000 km.
• It is being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program.

• Agni IV is nuclear capable, with a payload capacity of one tonne of high-explosive warhead.
• It is the fourth variant in the series of medium to long range Agni missiles and is currently in test phase. Agni I, II, III have already been inducted for military use. Last month, Agni-V was successfully launched in its final phase of canisterised testing.
• The road-mobile Agni-IV is meant for deterrence against China, which can target any Indian city with its formidable inventory of long-range missiles.
• The sophisticated surface-to-surface missile is equipped with modern and compact avionics to provide high level of reliability.

• Packed with features to correct and guide itself for in-flight disturbances, the Agni-IV can reach its target within meters of the target with a two-digit accuracy.
• The re-entry heat shield can withstand temperatures in the range of 4000 degrees centigrade and makes sure the avionics function normally.
• The Agni-IV had undergone one failed and five successful tests over the last five years, with the last one being conducted in November 2015.