INDIA has successfully test-fired an advanced version of the 290km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile off the coast of Odisha, giving the country the capability to hit enemy targets hidden behind mountains or in a cluster of buildings with “pinpoint accuracy”, Malaysia Nanban reported.
This was the 44th test-firing of the missile, said BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited (BAPL), the Indo-Russian joint venture firm which developed it.
The two-stage missile, the first one being solid and the second one ramjet liquid propellant, has already been inducted into the Indian army and navy, while the air force version is reportedly in the final stages of trial, a defence official was quoted as saying.
Work on the submarine-launched version of the system was also in progress.
BAPL managing director and chief executive officer A. Sivathanu said their missile, with a top speed of Mach 2.8, is about three times faster than the United States’ subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile.
This makes BrahMos one of the fastest cruise missiles in the world.