BHUBANESWAR: Indian Air Force (IAF) on Friday successfully test fired supersonic cruise missile BrahMos, with advanced guidance system and indigenously built software algorithm from a defence base in the western sector.
Defence sources said the advanced version of BrahMos land-attack system was launched from a mobile autonomous launcher from Pokharan range at about 12 pm establishing its supremacy in the World of supersonic cruise missiles.
The flight has met its mission parameters in a copybook manner reassuring its reliability consistency and accuracy. Fired from a land based platform the weapon successfully hit and annihilated the designated target as coordinated. Congratulating the IAF for successfully accomplishing such a complex mission, CEO and MD of BrahMos Aerospace Limited Sudhir Mishra said the missile has proved its mettle once again as the best supersonic cruise missile system in the world.
DRDO Chief Dr S Christopher also congratulated the IAF, BrahMos team and DRDO scientists involved in the successful mission. The accuracy in mountain warfare mode of the missile system was recently re-established in a exercise conducted by the Indian Army in the eastern sector last year and the test was repeated last month. BrahMos missile, which derives its name from the Brahmaputra and Moskova rivers, was developed by an Indo-Russian joint venture (JV) after the two countries signed an agreement in February 1998. The nine meter long missile can travel at a speed of Mach 2.8.
The missile, the fastest in the world, has a flight range of up to 290 km and carries a conventional warhead of 200 to 300 kg, thus delivering with high-precision, devastating power at supersonic speed. This state-of-the-art missile system has empowered all three wings of the armed forces with impeccable anti-ship and land attack capability. This JV model has yielded results in shortest possible time and has been well recognised by the armed forces of many countries who are interested in acquiring this complex weapon. About 205 Indian industries have come in a big way by significantly contributing their know-how and expertise in realising this weapon system.
The missile's successful launch is expected to give a boost to the ongoing programme of future installations of the weapon system in the IAF.
While the Army and Navy have already inducted the missile system, the launch of the missile’s air-version integrated with Su-30MKI aircraft will be carried out soon.