12.1.22

India tests naval BrahMos missile

The naval variant of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, with an extended range of 350 to 400-km, and the indigenous man-portable anti-tank guided missile, with a 2. 5-km strike range, were successfully tested on Tuesday.

The BrahMos missile was fired from the Navy’s latest guided-missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam, commissioned last November, to hit the designated target in a sea-tosea mode with “precision”, a DRDO official said.

The low-weight, fire-andforget MP-ATGM, in turn, was successfully flight-tested in its “final deliverable configuration”. The DRDO official said, “Launched from a man portable launcher integrated with thermal sight, the missile impacted the designated target and destroyed it. ”

“The test was to prove the consistent performance of the missile, which has a miniaturised infrared imaging seeker and advanced avionics for on-board control and guidance, for the minimum range. Its performance has been proven for maximum range earlier,” he added.

The range of BrahMos, a deadly conventional (non-nuclear) weapon jointly developed with Russia that flies almost three times the speed of sound at Mach 2. 8, is being extended from the original 290km to 350-400-km now.

The BrahMos land-attack missile batteries have been deployed in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, along with tanks, howitzers, surface-to-air missiles and other weapons, as part of the overall military readiness posture against China.

The air-breathing BrahMos has emerged as the “prime strike weapon” for the armed forces over the years.

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