BrahMos missile being test fired off Odisha coast on Monday

The fire-and-forget supersonic missile can evade enemy air defence systems

DELHI: India on Monday successfully test fired supersonic cruise missile BrahMos with indigenous components from a land based platform off Odisha coast.The missile deployed in full operational configuration blasted off from launching complex-III of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at about 10.20 am and met all mission parameters as expected.

A defence official said the supersonic cruise missile put to test with Indian propulsion system, airframe, power supply and other major components developed indigenously."The test was jointly conducted by DRDO and BrahMos Aerospace for a range of 290 km. With the successful mission, the indigenous content in the formidable weapon has reached a high value bolstering the flagship 'Make in India' programme," he said.

BrahMos is a joint venture of India and Russia. Though the land-attack version of the missile has been operationalised in the Indian Army since 2007, for the first time indigenous components were incorporated. The fire-and-forget missile has the capability to take on surface-based targets in both high-low trajectory. It can evade enemy air defence systems.

The nine-metre long two-stage missile can cruise at a speed of 2.8 Mach and is capable of carrying a conventional warhead weighing up to 300 kg. BrahMos missile has three versions - land, ship and air. It can effectively engage targets from an altitude as low as 10 metres for surgical strikes at terror training camps across the border without causing collateral damage.

Extended-range version of BrahMos has already been test fired after India's full membership to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which removed caps on range of the cruise missile. The strike range of the missile has been enhanced from 290 km to 450 km.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated team DRDO, BrahMos Aerospace and Industries for the successful mission. DG (BrahMos) Sudhir Kumar Mishra and Director Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) Dashrath Ram coordinated the mission.