India will test fire an advanced version of its indigenous two-tier ballistic missile defence (BMD) system next month in a move to protect itself from enemy missiles.

The upgraded BMD can intercept enemy missiles at exo-atmospheric altitudes of 150km and endo-atmospheric heights of 80km.

The system is being upgraded to provide more response time to the missile so that even if it’s a miss in the first attempt, the second layer of the system can be put into action.

The system was first test-fired in November 2006 and if the latest tests prove successful it will be ready for deployment by 2015, according to the Press Trust of India.