Indian Navy successfully test-fires naval version of BrahMos missile

New Delhi, Dec 01: A naval version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successfully test fired from a stealth destroyer of the Indian Navy in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday as part of a series of trials of the weapon, officials said.

A similar test firing of the missile was conducted by the Indian Navy in the Arabian Sea six weeks back. "The BrahMos anti-ship missile was successfully launched by INS Ranvijay and it hit the target ship at maximum range with pinpoint accuracy," Indian Navy Spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said.

BrahMos Aerospace, an India-Russian joint venture, produces the supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or from land platforms.

On November 24, the Indian Army had "successfully" test-fired the surface-to-surface BrahMos missile that flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound. The range of the new land attack version of the missile has been extended to 400 km from the original 290 km.

India has already deployed a sizable number of the original BrahMos missiles and other key assets in several strategic locations along the Line of Actual Control with China in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.

In the last two-and-half months, India has test-fired a number of missiles including an anti-radiation missile named Rudram-1 which is planned to be inducted into service by 2022.

The Indian Air Force on October 30 test-fired the air launched version of the weapon from a Sukhoi fighter aircraft in the Bay of Bengal. The IAF is also integrating the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile on over 40 Sukhoi fighter jets which is aimed at bolstering overall combat capability of the force.