Indian Army test-fires BrahMos cruise missile successfully

Bengaluru, May 08: The Indian Army on Friday conducted the test-firing of the Land Attack Cruise Missile (LACM) version of BrahMos successfully.

Top military sources confirmed to OneIndia that the test-firing of the supersonic missile was conducted around 13:10 hours (IST) from the Car Nicobar region. Today's launch was the 47th test-firing of the missile.

"The mission was successful and the missile penetrated the target bulls-eye. It was an advanced version of the land-attack cruise missile that was successfully test-fired, revalidating the formidable weapon's precision strike capability," an official said.

The land-to-land configuration of BrahMos Block-III version was test launched from a Mobile Autonomous Launcher (MAL).
The missile met all flight parameters including high level maneuvers. "The missile successfully hit the designated land-based target with desired accuracy," the officials said.

Missile was tested for its full range

The official confirmed that the missile was tested for its full-range of 290 kms. The flight was witnessed by Additional Director General Artillery along with senior officers from the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force.

"Today BrahMos LACM has been tested once again establishing our missile as an incredibly lethal weapon with pin-point accuracy to take on enemy targets anywhere. I congratulate the Indian Army on this successful launch," Sudhir Mishra, CEO & MD of BrahMos Aerospace said.

Latest test after confusion over last trials

Today's trial comes almost a month after the confusion over Indian Army's last test-firing of the BrahMos missile.

On April 9, the Indian Army had claimed the ‘successfully test-firing' of an advanced version of BrahMos missile from Car Nicobar Island. However, hours after the official announcement, the Army withdrew the statement citing no reasons.

Great coordination ahead of the launch

Sources said that the Indian Army officials had to move all infrastructures to mainland on a C-17 Globemaster ahead of the launch.

"Then to load the missile and integrate it on the MAL. It has been a daunting task for the entire Army team," sources said.

The launch location of the missile from the Car Nicobar region gains significance as India has keen interest in securing the safety of the nearby Malacca Strait.

The air version of BrahMos is expected to be test-fired Su-30MKI soon. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has already handed over the platform after successfully conducting the ground integration tests.

About the missile

• The supersonic cruise missile is developed by BrahMos Aerospace as a joint venture between DRDO and NPO Mashinostroeyenia of Russia.
• The 8.4-meter long missile can fly at 2.8 times the speed of sound and is capable of carrying conventional warheads of up to 300 kgs for a range of 290 km.
• Featuring a very low radar signature, it can be launched from land, ship, submarines and air platforms.
• BrahMos Aerospace is currently working to develop the submarine launched, air launched and hyper-sonic version of the missile.

(The writer is a seasoned aerospace and defence journalist in India. He is the Consultant Editor (Defence) with OneIndia. He tweets @writetake.)