India successfully tests BrahMos supersonic cruise missile

Bhubaneswar, Feb 14 (IANS) India Saturday successfully test fired the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile from INS Kolkata, the navy's most powerful and newest warship, in Arabian sea, an official said.

The launch was flawless and the missile met all its designed parameters, BrahMos Aerospace spokesperson Praveen Pathak told IANS.

The Indian Navy commissioned INS Kolkata Aug 16, 2014. This is the first ship of this class, with two more in the pipeline.

All the three ships will be quipped with the vertical-launched BrahMos system as the prime strike weapon.

The Universal Vertical Launcher Module (UVLM) being used in these has a unique design, developed and patented by BrahMos Aerospace.

The UVLM has the benefits of stealth and permits launching of the missile vertically in any direction.

BrahMos chief Sudhir Mishra congratulated the BrahMos Team and Indian Navy on the successful mission.

The BrahMos has a range of 290 km and can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kg. It has a top speed of Mach 2.8, which is about three times faster than the US subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile. This makes BrahMos one of the fastest cruise missiles in the world.

It can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft and land.