India test fires BrahMos supersonic cruise missile

Mar 21, 2010, 14:28 GMT

New Delhi - India successfully tested Sunday a 'maneuverable' version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile which it has jointly developed with Russia, news reports said.

The vertical-launch version of the 290-kilometer range BrahMos was tested from a warship in the Bay of Bengal off India's eastern coast, the PTI news agency reported.

'The vertical-launch version of missile was launched at 11:30 (0600 GMT) hours today from Indian Navy ship INS Ranvir and it manoeuvred successfully hitting the target ship. It was a perfect hit and a perfect mission,' BrahMos aerospace chief A Sivathanu Pillai was quoted as saying.

'After today's test, India has become the first and only country in the world to have a manoeuvrable supersonic cruise missile in its inventory,' Pillai said.

Named after India's Brahmaputra and Russia's Moskva rivers, the BrahMos can carry a 200-kilogramme conventional warhead.

Variants of the missile fitted with inclined launchers are already in service with the Indian Navy, NDTV news channel quoted defence sources as saying.

Sunday's firing was part of pre-induction tests for the vertical launcher variant, the sources said.

The BrahMos has also been inducted into the India Army and preparations are on to develop air-launched and the submarine- launched versions, the sources said.