India's supersonic cruise missile BrahMos was test fired at 10.18 AM from Odisha's Chandipur range launch pad today (July 16) under extreme conditions.

The test was conducted in order to increase the longevity of its life.

As ET had earlier reported, BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation and NPOM of Russia, is responsible for designing, developing and producing the missile.

The test-firing to "validate service life extension" of the missile will take place from a test range at Chandipur in Odisha in the third week of July, Sudhir Kumar Mishra, chief of BrahMos Aerospace, had told PTI.

"Recently, we demonstrated the vertical dive capability of BrahMos. This can be used against targets in mountains and also against aircraft carriers," he said.

A version of the missile with vertical launch capability for use in mountainous areas and against aircraft carriers will be ready soon, Mishra said, adding that a lighter version of air-launched BrahMos is at the drawing board stage.

The missile can cruise at speeds of up to Mach 3.0, or three times the speed of sound.