India test-fires BrahMos cruise missile

New Delhi: India test-fired BrahMos cruise missile successfully on Tuesday at the Pokhran test range of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.

BrahMos, developed jointly with Russia, is a supersonic cruise missile and can be launched from submarine, ship, aircraft and land based Mobile Autonomous Launchers (MAL).

The missile was to be test-fired for the third time in desert conditions on January 17 but it was postponed to January 20 due to heavy fog and rain in the area.

The nuclear-capable BrahMos missile with a range of 290 kms was tested against the backdrop of heightened tension between India and Pakistan following the Mumbai terror attacks.

Defence Minister AK Antony said in New Delhi that the test was pre-planned and not directed against any country.

The missile, capable of touching a speed of 2.8 times that of sound, was launched during the trial in its vertical mode, DRDO officials said.

Currently, India Army has one regiment armed with the BrahMos missile which is different from the version that was test-fired on Tuesday.

BrahMos has been named after two rivers - the Brahmaputra of India and the Moscow of Russia.

The first test-firing of the BrahMos was conducted on June 12, 2001 at the Interim Test Range Chandipur-On-Sea in Balasore (Orissa).

(With inputs from PTI)