India tests BrahMos cruise missile (Second Lead, Changing dateline)

BALASORE - India Sunday successfully test fired the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos from a military base in Orissa.

The missile was tested for the army from the Integrated Test Range of Chandipur in Balasore, some 230 km from Bhubaneswar, director of the test range S.P. Dash told IANS.

“The launch met all mission requirements. It was a 100 percent fantastic launch,” he said.

India and Russia are jointly designing the Bramhos missile, which is capable of carrying conventional warheads upto 200-300 kg and have a range of 290 km.

The missile is named after the Brahmaputra (India) and Moskva (Russia) rivers.

A BrahMos Aerospace spokesman said the missile test fired at 11.35 a.m. was the advanced version of BrahMos-block-II.

“The missile flew in the designated complex trajectory including large manoeuvres and steep dive,” he told IANS.

“This is the first time that a supersonic dive has been realised by a cruise missile. Witnesses from the armed forces termed it as a perfectly precise flight,” he said.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony has congratulated the armed forces and the defence scientists associated with the project.

The launch was witnessed by Director General of Artillery in the Army Lieutenant General Vinod Nayanar and CEO and managing director of BrahMos Aerospace A.S. Pillai.

Others who witnessed the tests include BrahMos scientists from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and industry representatives along with officers from different units of the army.