India Successfully Test Fires BrahMos Cruise Missile

The Indian Navy has successfully test-fired a BrahMos supersonic cruise missile launched from a warship off the western Goa coast, India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) reported on Sunday.

The BrahMos missile, a joint development of Russian and Indian specialists, was launched from the guided missile frigate INS Teg built by Russia on order from the Indian Navy. “The missile hit the designated target at a distance of 290 km,” the DRDO said. BrahMos Aerospace Ltd, set up in 1998, manufactures supersonic cruise missiles based on the Russian-designed NPO Mashinostroyenie 3M55 Yakhont (SS-N-26).

The BrahMos missile has a range of 290 km (180 miles) and can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kg (660 lbs). It can effectively engage targets from an altitude as low as 10 meters (30 feet) and has a top speed of Mach 2.8, which is about three times faster than the U.S.-made subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile. Sea- and ground-launched versions have been successfully tested and put into service with the Indian Army and Navy.

The flight tests of the airborne version will be completed by the end of 2012. The Indian Air Force is planning to arm 40 Su-30MKI Flanker-H fighters with BrahMos missiles. Russia and India have recently agreed to develop hypersonic BrahMos 2 missile capable of flying at speeds of Mach 5-Mach 7.