India Tuesday successfully test fired the Akash medium range surface-to-air missile from a range in Orissa, a military official said.

The home-grown multiple-target missile soared aloft from the Integrated Test range at Chandipur, 230 km from here, at 11.57 a.m.

The test was aimed at evaluating the missile's effectiveness against a drone Lakshya, which has also been indigenously developed, the official said.

Lakshya was sent airborne at 11.32 a.m. to position it for the test, the official added. Five more test firings of Akash would be conducted during the next few weeks.

Akash, which can detect and destroy intruding low-level aircraft within a 24-km radius, operates in tandem with the indigenously built Rajendra radar.

Akash carries a 50 kg payload and uses integrated two-stage ramjet propulsion technology. It is one of five missiles under various stages of development by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

--Indo-Asian News Service