The interceptor missile takes off from the test site in Chandipur-on-Sea on Sunday. (AP)

Balasore (Orissa), March 6 (PTI): India today successfully test-fired its indigenously developed interceptor missile which destroyed a “hostile” target ballistic missile at an altitude of 16km over the Bay of Bengal.

The target missile, a modified surface-to-surface Prithvi, lifted off from a mobile launcher at 9.33am from Launch Complex III of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur-on-Sea, 15km from Balasore.

In less than three minutes, the interceptor, Advanced Air Defence missile, positioned at Wheeler Island, about 70km across the sea from Chandipur, received signals from tracking radars installed along the coastline and travelled at Mach 4.5 (Mach 1 is three times the speed of sound) to destroy it.

ITR director S.P. Dash said the interceptor hit the target missile at an altitude of around 16km over the sea.

“Detailed results and the ‘kill’ effect of the interceptor were being ascertained by analysing data from multiple tracking sources,” a Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) scientist said soon after the trial.

As a safety measure, the Balasore district administration this morning temporarily shifted 3,221 people residing within a 2km radius of the launch pad to nearby shelters.

This was the sixth time that DRDO scientists tested the interceptor missile.