India test fires supersonic cruise missile

India test fires supersonic cruise missile
BHUBANESWAR, April 22: India on Sunday successfully tested a surface-to-surface version of the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile developed jointly with Russia, official sources said.“Sunday's test was just routine. A user trial,” a defence official said. The missile was last successfully tested on February 4.The missile was fired from a mobile launcher from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea, 200 kilometres (125 miles) northeast of Bhubaneswar, official sources said.First tested in June 2001, the missile named after India's Brahmaputra River and Russia's Moskva River has a range of 290 kilometers (180 miles) and can carry a 300-kilogram (660 pound) conventional warhead.The eight-metre (26-foot) missile weighs about three metric tonnes and can be launched from land, ships, submarines or aircraft, travelling at a speed of up to Mach 2.8.Sunday's test came just 10 days after India successfully tested the Agni-III, an intermediate-range missile that for the first time gives New Delhi a device capable of hitting targets inside China, including capital Beijing.The Indian army is set to start deploying the missile this year, the CEO of its manufacturer BrahMos Aerospace A. Sivathanu Pillai said last month.A version of the BrahMos is already used by the Indian navy.Defence sources said India and Russia are now working towards developing a hypersonic missile, a more advanced version of the BrahMos. —AFP