A BrahMos supersonic cruise missile fired yesterday with a speed of around 3,000 km/h created a hole in an abandoned ship of the Indian Navy, officials of BrahMos said today, adding that the missile was without a warhead. The experiment was a part of the result of India’s successful test of the supersonic cruise missile, which was fired from the guided-missile destroyer INS Delhi.
The Indian Navy tested the anti-ship variant of the missile using an upgraded modular launcher onboard the INS Delhi. “Successful maiden BrahMos firing by INS Delhi from an upgraded modular launcher once again demonstrated long-range strike capability of BrahMos along with validation of integrated Network Centric Operations from frontline platforms,” the Indian Navy tweeted along with a video of the test fire.
“A BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was test-fired by the Indian Navy warship INS Delhi on 19 April. The missile without a warhead created a hole in the abandoned ship. The missile travels at speeds around 3,000 km/h and is difficult to intercept by air defence systems,” the officials said.
On 19 April, the Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully tested a BrahMos supersonic cruise missile too — from a Sukhoi fighter jet on the eastern seaboard on the same ship. This was to demonstrate BrahMos’ operational preparedness.
The “live firing” of the missile was carried out in close coordination with the Indian Navy, the IAF said.
The missile hit the target with accuracy and precision, officials said. The ship sank after the missile with warhead hit it directly.
“Today on the Eastern seaboard, #IAF undertook live firing of #BrahMos missile from a Su30 MkI aircraft. The missile achieved a direct hit on the target, a decommissioned #IndianNavy ship. The mission was undertaken in close coordination with @indiannavy,” the IAF said in a tweet.
In 2016, the government had ordered the integration of the air-launched variant of BrahMos into over 40 Sukhoi fighter aircraft. The project was conceived to enhance the IAF’s capability to strike from large stand-off ranges on any target on sea or land.
On 5 March, the Indian Navy successfully tested an advanced version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from a stealth destroyer in the Indian Ocean.
The missile was fired from the stealth destroyer INS Chennai.
BrahMos Aerospace, an India-Russian joint venture, produces supersonic cruise missiles that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land platforms. BrahMos missile flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound.
The range of the advanced version of the missile is learnt to have been extended to around 350 km from the original 290 km.
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