India test fires BrahMos missile

Bhuwaneshwar : A new version of Indo-Russian supersonic cruise missile BrahMos was successfully test fired off the Orissa coast on Thursday, the Ministry of Defence said.

The BrahMos Block III+ version, fired on Thursday morning at 10:55 from the Interim Test Range in Orissa, was put through rigorous testing and successfully went through complicated manoeuvres, the statement said.

According to defence officials, the missile, which can fly at speeds of over 2.8 times the speed of sound, is capable of carrying warheads up to 300 kg for a range of 290 km.

The missile was developed as a joint venture between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroeyenia who have together formed BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited.

The name BrahMos is a portmanteau formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.