India successfully tests BrahMos cruise missile (Second Lead)

BHUBANESWAR - India Thursday successfully test fired a new version of the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos from a military base in Orissa to examine its steep diving capability, defence sources said.

The missile was tested from the Integrated Test Range of Chandipur in Balasore, about 230 km from Bhubaneswar, in the presence of leading defence officials, the sources told IANS.

“The launch of BrahMos Block III + version took place at 1055 hrs,” a BrahMos spokesperson told IANS while describing it as a “100 percent successful launch”.

High ranking army officers who witnessed the launch congratulated the scientists behind the mission that they said would provide unmatched capabilities to the Indian armed forces.

India and Russia are jointly designing the BrahMos missile, which is capable of carrying conventional warheads up to 200-300 kg and has a range of 290 km. The missile is named after the Brahmaputra (India) and Moskva (Russia) rivers.