Apr 22, 2007, 15:44 GMT
New Delhi - India successfully test-fired the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, jointly developed with Russia, from a range in eastern Orissa state on Sunday, news reports said.
The surface-to-surface missile test will be evaluated after analysing data, PTI news agency reported citing defence sources at the interim test range at Chandipur in Orissa.
The missile was fired from a mobile launcher and its trajectory tracked by ground instruments and radars.
The BrahMos, developed under an Indo-Russian joint venture programme initiated in 1998, has so far undergone 13 successful tests.
Its name is derived from two great rivers of India and Russia - the Brahmaputra and the Moskva. The missile is being jointly produced by India's defence Research and Development Organization and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyenia.
The BrahMos missile has a strike range of 290 kilometres and speed about three times that of sound, at Mach 2.823. It can carry conventional warheads weighing between 200 to 300 kilograms.
The 8-metre-long missile, weighing about three tons, can be launched from the ground, ships or aircraft. A submarine version of the missile is currently being developed.
Both India and neighbouring Pakistan routinely test missiles. The two countries have fought three wars since their independence from British rule in 1947, but relations have improved since they began talks to resolve border issues and other differences in 2004.
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