India successfully test-fired an upgraded version of its long-range, nuclear-capable missile in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday.

The new generation Agni-IV, which has a range of 3,000 to 3,500 kilometres, was fired from a mobile launcher on Wheeler Island in Odisha state and hit a target on the Bay of Bengal, according to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), India's military technology developer.

"The missile, with a payload reduced to 800 kilogrammes from 1,000 kilogrammes, followed its trajectory, attained a height of about 900 kilometres and reached the pre-designated target in Bay of Bengal with very high level of accuracy after a 20-minute flight," a DRDO scientist said, according to the Times of India. "Much lighter in weight than Agni-II and Agni-III, Agni-IV is an entirely new missile with two stages of solid propulsion and a payload with re-entry heat shield. All mission objectives were fully met. All systems functioned perfectly till the end encountering re-entry temperatures of over 3,000 degree Celsius."

The Agni-IV is two-stage missile powered by solid fuel and launched from a mobile canister. More advance navigation, propulsion and avionics technology were used to build and operate the missile.

Its first flight test in December 2010 failed when the missile went wayward and fell into the sea. Early versions of the missile, the Agni-II, also failed in test fires in 2009 and 2010.

More tests of the Agni-IV will be conducted before the missile is mass produced and deployed.

India is building a nuclear arsenal as a deterrent to a Chinese or Pakistani missile attack. China has missiles called Dong Feng with a strike range of 11,200 kilometres. It can hit any Indian city.

Neighboring Pakistan also has more advanced nuclear-capable missiles called Ghauri and Shaheen.

The Agni-IV missile is an improvement to the previous version called Agni-III.