India tests Astra missile after sunset

BHUBANESWAR - India Tuesday test fired its short range Astra air-to-air missile from a defence base in Orissa for the first time after sunset, defence sources said.

The beyond visual range missile was tested at the Chandipur test range, about 230 km from here.

“We are analyzing the data,” S.P. Dash, director of the test range, told IANS.

Astra is a high-end tactical missile, intended to target enemy aircraft at supersonic speeds in head-on mode at a range of 80 km and in tail-chase mode at 20 km.