Several flights from Bandaranaike International Airport to India, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia will be delayed till noon due to temporary closure of Indian eastern airspace.

India is set to test its indigenously developed intercontinental surface-to-surface nuclear capable ballistic missile ‘Agni-5’ from the Wheeler Island off Odisha coast on Monday.

Range coordination has reached its final stage for the fourth test of Agni-5 missile, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) sources said.

The three stage, solid propellant missile is to be test-fired from a mobile launcher from the launch complex-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR).

It will be fourth developmental and second canisterised trial of the long range missile. While the first test was conducted on April 19, 2012, the second test was carried out on September 15, 2013 and the third on January 31, 2015 from the same base.

The indigenously-developed surface-to-surface missile, Agni-5, is capable of striking a target more than 5,000 km. It is about 17-metre long, 2-metre wide and has launch weight of around 50 tonnes. The missile can carry a nuclear warhead of more than one tonne.

Unlike other missiles of Agni series, the latest one ‘Agni-5’ is the most advanced having new technologies incorporated with it in terms of navigation and guidance, warhead and engine. (With inputs from Hindustan Times)