India Friday successfully test-fired the Akash surface-to-air missile from a range in Orissa, a defence source said.

The home-grown multi-target missile was fired from the integrated test range at Chandipur at 12.30 p.m., the source said.

Akash, which has a 25-km range, uses a ramjet propulsion system and is powered by an air-breathing engine.

The missile is deployed in tandem with the indigenously developed radar Rajendra, which can simultaneously track 64 aircraft within a range of 40 km to 60 km.

Akash is one of the five missiles under various stages of development by the Defence Research and Development Organisation.

--Indo-Asian News Service