India successfully test-fires BrahMos supersonic cruise missile

NEW DELHI: India on Wed- nesday successfully tested the extended range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, which has emerged as a primary precision-strike conventional weapon for the armed forces, from the integrated test range at Balasore in Odisha.

The range of the new land-attack version of the missile has been extended to 400 km from the original 290 km and its speed has been maintained at Mach 2.8 which is nearly three times that of sound. India has already deployed a sizeable number of the original BrahMos missiles and other key assets in several strategic locations along the de-facto border with China in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.

The test-firing of the missile comes at a time India and China are locked in a bitter border standoff in eastern Ladakh. "BrahMos surface-to-surface supersonic cruise missile featuring indigenous booster and airframe section along with many other 'Made in India' sub-systems was successfully flight tested for designated range at 1030 hours today," the defence ministry said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah complimented DRDO for the successful test-firing of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile and said the state-of-the-art weapon is a testimony of India's defence potential. The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with several indigenous features was successfully test-fired from a test range in Odisha and it has been termed as a major step towards achieving 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' pledge.

"India is extremely proud of DRDO for successfully testing the indigenously developed extended range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. This state-of-the-art weapon is a testimony of India's defence potential and PM Narendra Modi ji's resolve towards an Aatmanirbhar Bharat," Shah tweeted.