India’s Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) on Tuesday announced the successful test-launch of an advanced version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, a naval variant jointly developed by Russia and India.
“Advanced sea to sea variant of BrahMos Supersonic Cruise missile was tested from INS Visakhapatnam today. Missile hit the designated target ship precisely,” it stated.
The BrahMos missile is produced by an Indo-Russian defense corporation BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between the DRDO and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyenia which was established in 1998. It can be launched against both land and sea targets.
At the inauguration of the Brahmos missile last year, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the missile was named after the Brahmaputra River in India and the Moskva River in Russia, which symbolizes the two countries’ partnership.
“BrahMos missile is not meant for attacking other nations but to equip India with capabilities to deter external forces from casting evil eyes on our territory,” Singh said at the time.
Singh congratulated the DRDO on the missile’s successful test launch on Tuesday, saying that it demonstrates “the robustness of Indian Navy’s mission readiness.”
The BrahMos cruise missile is 8 meters (26 feet) in length and carries a conventional warhead weighing about 200 kilograms (440 lbs).
It has a flight range of up to Mach 2.8 (970 meters per second), almost three times the speed of sound, and can be launched from land, ships, submarines, and aircraft.
India’s previous test launch of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile in November 2020, from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, was also a success. The missile’s strike range was reported to have been enhanced to 450 kilometers (280 miles), up from its previous 298 kilometers (185 miles).
