India today successfully test fired BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile from a vertical launcher fitted in a moving warship INS Ranvir off Orissa coast. The missile performed supersonic manoeuvring following the exact flight path and homed on to the decommissioned target ship INS Meen.
“The launch met all mission requirements and was 100 per cent successful,” Dr. A S Pillai, CEO and MD of BrahMos Aerospace, confirmed.
The missile, which has a range of 290-km and flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach, can take on a target lying anywhere in the 360-degree range of the ship. Senior Naval officials who witnessed the launch termed it a “landmark event.”
DRDO along with Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyenia has jointly designed and developed the BrahMos missiles which are capable of carrying conventional warheads up to 200 -300 kg and a range of 290-km.
The state-of-the-art Universal Vertical Launcher from which the missile was test fired has been designed, developed and patented by BrahMos Aerospace. The launcher is designed to be fitted under the warship’s deck, thereby protecting it from atmospheric conditions and imparting stealth to the weapon system.
Three 15 A Alpha-class ships being built at Mazagon Docks in Mumbai and three more Talwar class ships (known as 1135.6 class in Russia) built at Kaliningrad in Russia will be fitted with similar Vertical Launcher modules.
With the latest launch, BrahMos has once again proved its mettle to be launched from both Vertical and Inclined configurations from Naval platforms. The Army has plans to induct three regiments of BrahMos in near future to use the missile as a “precision first strike weapon.”
President Smt. Pratibha Patil and Defence Minister Shri AK Antony congratulated the missile scientists and naval officers for the successful launch of the supersonic cruise missile.
