AFP file photo taken 21 January 2004, of an Indian tank equiped with Surface-to-air Akash missiles manoeuvering past Vijay Chowk on Rajpath in New Delhi, during a rehearsal for the annual Indian Republic Day parade.

Bhubaneshwar, India (AFP) - India on Tuesday test-fired a short-range anti-aircraft missile from a site in the eastern state of Orissa, defence sources said.

This was the second test of the missile, named Akash which means Sky in Hindi, in four days. The last successful test was on Friday and came a day after rival Pakistan tested a short-range nuclear-capable missile.

The sources said Akash was fired from a mobile launcher at 11:57 am at the Chandipur-on-Sea testing site, 200 kilometres (125 miles) northeast of Orissa's state capital Bhubaneswar.

"It successfully hit the target dropped from a pilotless target aircraft," a defence source said.

The 700-kilogram (1,540-pound) Akash can carry a 60-kilogram warhead and is designed to travel 27 kilometres (17 miles).

It can strike several targets simultaneously.

Akash is one of five missiles being developed by India's state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation.