India on Wednesday successfully test-fired the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from aboard its latest warship, off the Goa coast.
The 290-km missile, an Indo-Russian joint venture, was fired from INS Tarkash, a Russian built frigate of the Indian Navy.
“The missile performed the high-level ‘C’ manoeuvre at pre-determined flight path and successfully hit the target. The surface-to-surface missile was test launched from the warship at 11 am,” a BrahMos Aerospace statement said.
“The launch was carried out by the Indian Navy as part of Acceptance Test Firing(ATF) of the ship,” it added. The Indian Navy had commissioned INS Tarkash on November 9 last year. The warship, along with two other frigates of the same class -- INS Teg and INS Trikand -- have been built as part of a `8,000 crore contract signed between India and Russia in July 2006.
INS Teg, the first of this class of frigates, was commissioned on April 27 last year, while the third warship in this class, INS Trikand, is expected soon.
Tarkash is an advanced warship, fitted with an upgraded multi-role combat suite, making it one of the most potent platforms of the Indian Navy.
The weapons suite of INS Tarkash includes surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missile systems, 100 mm medium range gun, close-in weapon system, torpedo tubes and anti-submarine rockets.
All the three ships of this class are equipped with eight vertical launched BrahMos missiles as the prime strike weapon.