Brahmos cruise missile test-fired

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November 30, 2005 12:28 IST

The supersonic cruise missile Brahmos was flight tested on Wednesday from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, about 15 km from Balasore.

The test firing of the missile took place at 1102 IST. "The flight trial has met all the mission objectives," a defence source said.

The ground range instrumentation from ITR and the radar located near the impact point tracked the missile trajectory and monitored all the parameters from launch, the source said.

Brahmos has been developed under a joint venture programme between India and Russia. The version tested on Wednesday had been designed for army use, the sources said.

The missile has a striking range of 290 km and weighs about three tonnes. It is about eight metre long and can carry a conventional warhead weighing 200 to 300 kg. A two-stage vehicle, its propulsion comprises of a solid propellant booster and a liquid propellant ramjet system.

Brahmos can travel at mach numbers 2.8 to 3 and has been configured for launch from ground, ship, submarine and aircraft. (A mach number represents the ratio of the speed of a body, like an aircraft, to the speed of sound in a surrounding medium.)

The first test flight of the missile was carried out from the ITR on June 12, 2001.

Distinguished scientist and chief executive officer and managing director of Brahmos company Dr A Sivathanu Pillai, who is also chief controller (reasearch and development) of the Defence Research And Development Organisation, was present along with other scientists of the organisation during the test firing.

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