India test-fires supersonic BrahMos cruise missile
Pakistan Times Wire Service

BHUBANESWAR: India on Sunday successfully tested a surface-to-surface version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, which it has developed jointly with Russia, official sources said.

The missile was fired from a mobile launcher from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea -- 200 kilometres (125 miles) northeast of Bhubaneswar, the capital of the eastern Orissa state, official sources said.

"Sunday's test was that of a surface-to-surface version of BrahMos and the trial met all the mission objectives," a defence source said.

The missile has a range of 290 kilometers (180 miles) and can carry a 300-kilogram (660 pounds) conventional warhead and be launched from land, ships, submarines or aircraft.

The eight-metre (26-foot) missile weighs about three metric tonnes, sources said.

"The 2.8 Mach supersonic speed makes the BrahMos unique as all other cruise missiles are sub-sonic at present", a defence official, who declined to be named, said.

First tested in June 2001, the missile is named after India's Brahmaputra River and Russia's Moskva River.●