BHUBANESWAR: In an incredible feat not achieved by any other weapon system of its genre, advanced BrahMos Block-III land attack cruise missile system successfully hit a land-based target with desired precision during a trial on Wednesday. This was the second consecutive test of the supersonic cruise missile by Indian army. The test was carried out by South Western Command’s Corps ‘Strike One’ in full operational land-to-land configurations from a mobile autonomous launcher at its full-range.
The long-range tactical weapon was successfully tested in a similar configuration on Tuesday. A spokesperson of Army said two launches in a row in two days has reinforced the formidable weapon’s precision strike capability. “The mission met all flight parameters in a copybook manner. Making high level and complex manoeuvers, the missile fired from a canister successfully hit the land-based target with desired precision in both the trials demonstrating its accuracy of less than one metre,” he said.
This is the fifth consecutive time when the Block-III version of BrahMos land attack cruise missile has been successfully launched and hit the land-based target in ‘top-attack’ mode. Indian Army, which became the first land force in the world to deploy the BrahMos in 2007, has raised several regiments of this world-class weapon system. Jointly developed by India and Russia, the multi-platform, multi-role BrahMos is capable of being launched from land, sea, submarine and air against land and sea-based targets. Its strike range has been enhanced from 290 km to 450 km making it a lethal weapon.
The two-stage missile weighs 3.9 tonnes with the canister. It can carry warheads weighing around 300 kg. It is the only supersonic cruise missile in the world, which can surprise the enemy with its speed, power and precision. The missile’s high cruise and terminal speed pose a significant challenge for the enemy, as it leaves less time for deployment of counter measures. Meanwhile, ‘hypersonic’ BrahMos cruise missile which can fly at double the speed of current version is under development. Air version of the missile is also ready for maiden launch from Sukhoi-30MKI aircraft.