The Trishul (Trident) missile was test-fired "successfully" at 2:00 pm (0830 GMT), said an official at the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur.

The missile -- one of the five developed by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation since 1983 -- is powered by solid fuel and can deliver a 15-kilogram (33-pound) warhead up to nine kilometres (five miles) away, it said.

The test came amid reports the Indian government was scrapping the development of the Trishul.

"The Trishul missile is a closed project," Outlook magazine said in an article published Saturday quoting V.K. Aatre, the scientific advisor to Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes.

He said the military was now allowed "to import missiles of this class."

According to another official quoted anonymously in the report, the guidance system did not work.

"It ought to fly with precision and a high speed (2.5 times the speed of sound) and strike even if the target is employing evasive tactics. But the missile was not able to hit its target," the official said.

SPACE.WIRE