India on Monday successfully test fired BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from test range along Odisha Coast, confirmed the officials of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The trial was conducted to validate its "life extension" technologies developed for the first time in India by DRDO and team BrahMos, said an official of the Intergrated Test Range.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman congratualated DRDO scientists and team BrahMos for the successful launch of BrahMos missile.
The successful test will result in huge savings of replacement cost of missiles held in the inventory of the Indian Armed Forces, it said.
The BrahMos missile program is a joint venture between India’s DRDO and Russian rocket design bureau NPO Mashinostroyeniya. India supplies the BrahMos’ inertial navigation system and fire control system, and Russia the ramjet propulsion system and seeker.
ALSO READ: 10 facts you should know about India's pride 'BrahMos'
The BrahMos missile named after the Brahmaputra River in India and the Moskva River in Russia is a derivative of the Russian P-800 Oniks over-the-horizon supersonic anti-ship cruise missile. The land-launched and sea-launched variants of the BrahMos are already in service with the Indian Army and Navy. An air-launched variant is expected to become operational by the end of 2018 with the Indian Air Force.
After two successful test trials of BrahMos missile from INS Kolkata in June 2014 and February 2015, the test firing from INS Kochi on September 30, 2015, had validated the newly commissioned ship's systems.
The air launch version and the submarine launch version of the missile system are in progress.
So far, the Army has placed orders for the BrahMos missile which are to be deployed by three regiments. Two of them are already operational.
The last land-based trial was conducted from the same base on March 11, 2017 successfully.
Here's all you want to know about BrahMos Missile:
#. The BrahMos is a supersonic missile developed in a joint-venture between India and Russia.
#. It is the fastest known versatile supersonic missile.
#. BrahMos missile flies almost three times the speed of sound at Mach 2.8 and has a range of 290 kilometers.
#. The missile has been jointly developed with Russia and is named after the rivers Brahmaputra and Moskva in Russia.
#. The Brahmos Aerospace has been inducted by Army, Navy and The Air Force, making it first in the world to achieve this feat.
#. Unlike other warships, a BrahMos armed Sukhoi-30 can fly 1,500 kilometres in the direction of a hostile target out at sea.
#. The BrahMos is extremely difficult to be intercepted by surface to air missiles deployed on leading warships around the world.
#. The range of the BrahMos missile can be extended up to 400 km as certain technical restrictions were lifted after India became a full member of the Missile Technology Control Regime or MTCR in 2016.
#. BrahMos missile is the heaviest weapon to be deployed on India's Su-30 fighter aircraft.
#. It is a two-stage missile that works on the "fire and forget principle". For the first stage it has a solid propellant booster engine. This brings the missile to its supersonic speed and then gets separated. The liquid ramjet takes over and helps the missile achieve its cruise speed of 2.8 Mach.
#. BrahMos has been identified as a missile with immense export potential. As many as seven countries, including those in the Middle East and Latin America have already expressed interest in purchasing the missile.
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