BHUBANESWAR: In yet another historic mission, India for the first time successfully flight tested supersonic cruise missile BrahMos from the Navy’s indigenously built stealth destroyer INS Chennai against a live target on Sunday.
Defence sources said the missile, an Indo-Russian joint venture, was fired at about 10.30 am. It hit the battle practice target in the Arabian sea with pin-point accuracy after performing high-level and extremely complex manoeuvres.
The highly versatile BrahMos as ‘prime strike weapon’ ensures the warship’s invincibility by engaging naval surface targets at long ranges, making the destroyer another lethal platform of Indian Navy.
A defence official said the mission was a roaring success. The missile took off vertically and hit the designated target meeting all mission parameters as expected.
“This was the third launch of the missile from the destroyer and first test against a live target. The trial reconfirmed perfect functioning of technologically advanced fire control system, universal vertical launch module and its interfaces with the ship’s systems apart from the stealth capability,” he told The Express.
With this, BrahMos missile has established itself as a major force multiplier in modern-day complex battlefields with its impeccable land-attack, anti-ship, multi-role and multi-platform abilities.
Indian Navy had commissioned INS Chennai on November 21, 2016. The 7,500-ton warship incorporates new design concepts for improved survivability, stealth, sea-keeping and manoeuvrability. The warship has the enhanced capability of carrying 16 BrahMos missiles in two eight-cell vertical launch systems, besides other sophisticated weapons and sensors.
BrahMos missile having a strike range of over 300 km and with a very low-cruise altitude of 10 metre at terminal phase and precision hit capability has turned the warship into one of the deadliest platforms of Indian naval fleet. The nine metre long missile can travel at thrice the speed of sound and carry warhead weighing upto 300 kg.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and DRDO Chairman G Satheesh Reddy congratulated DRDO, BrahMos Aerospace and Indian Navy for the feat. “The world’s fastest cruise missile BrahMos will add to the capabilities of Indian Armed Forces in many ways,” said Reddy.
Fire power
This is 10th missile to be test fired in last 45 days following Chinese aggression along LAC
An extended range version of BrahMos missile capable of destroying targets 450 km away was test fired with indigenous booster from a test facility off Odisha coast on September 30