"Agni-111 will certainly be launched in the next few months," V.K. Atre, chief of India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) told reporters on Wednesday in New Delhi.

The Times of India daily said the flight-testing could be held within four months, but there was no immediate official confirmation of the report.

DRDO sources say the latest variant of the nuclear-capable Agni (Fire) missile will have a maximum range of up to 4,000 kilometres (2480 miles), making it capable of striking strategic targets deep inside China.

Agni-111's test was originally scheduled for 2003 but it was deferred because of latest moves by arch-rivals India and Pakistan to bury decades of mutual hostility, analysts say.

India has already begun the production of its 700-kilometre (434-mile) Agni-1 and the 2,500-kilometre (1,550-mile) range Agni-11 after flight-testing both the ballistic missiles several times since 1993.

India, which conducted nuclear weapons tests in 1998, has developed a series of nuclear and conventional missile systems as part of the DRDO's Integrated Missile Development Programme which was launched in 1983.

WAR.WIRE