India on Wednesday successfully tested the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from aboard its newest 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 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 here.
“The launch was carried out by 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.
The advanced warship has been fitted with an upgraded multi-role combat suite to make 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.
The BrahMos missile system is capable of engaging targets at extended ranges at supersonic speed. The BrahMos missile can cruise at a maximum speed of 2.8 Mach or nearly three times the speed of sound and is capable of carrying a conventional warhead of 300 kg.
The new missile frigates are designed to accomplish a wide range of maritime missions, primarily hunting down and destroying large surface ships and submarines. The vertical launch configuration of BrahMos enhances the stealth capabilities of the warship, as the missiles are under the deck and not exposed.