(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-26 14:18

NEW DELHI-- India will test-fire a new "interceptor" missile to "kill" an incoming "hostile" missile over the Bay of Bengal in the first week of next month, according to the newspaper Times of India Monday.

This new interceptor missile, an "endo-atmospheric" one, which is seen as a crucial step towards proving its fledgling ballistic missile defense (BMD) system, will take on the "enemy" missile at an altitude of 15-20 km above the earth, on the lines of the American Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) system.

On November 27 last year, India test-fired an "exo-atmospheric" hypersonic interceptor missile to successfully destroy an incoming Prithvi missile at an altitude of around 50 km, demonstrating a capability akin to the Israeli Arrow-2 BMD system.

The two tests taken together will constitute the first phase in India's quest to develop a "unique" two-tier BMD system, capable of tracking and destroying hostile missiles both inside and outside the earth's atmosphere.