India successfully test fires supersonic cruise

India yesterday successfully test-fired a supersonic cruise missile from a test range along the Bay of Bengal coast to validate some of its new features.

The BraHmos supersonic missile, a joint venture of India and Russia, was test-fired from a mobile launcher stationed of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in the eastern state of Odisha, officials of state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said.

The trial was conducted to validate its "life extension" technologies developed for the first time in India by DRDO and team BraHmos, said an official of the ITR.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman congratulated DRDO scientists for the successful launch of BraHmos missile with new technology yesterday. The missile has already been introduced in the Indian army and navy, while the air force version had witnessed successful trial, the DRDO scientists said.

The BrahMos missile can be launched from land, air, sea and under water. India successfully launched the world's fastest supersonic cruise missile from a fighter plane Sukhoi-30 MKI for the first time against a target in the Bay of Bengal in November last year.

At least two squadrons with 20 fighter jets each are planned to be equipped with the air-launch variant BrahMos missiles which are 500 kg lighter than land and naval variants.

India has already extended the range of the three-tonne missile from  290 km to 400 km and successfully test-fired the variant in March 2017.