India on Tuesday successfully test-fired a naval variant of the advanced supersonic BrahMos cruise missile from a stealth guided-missile destroyer of the Indian Navy.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said the missile hit the designated target "precisely".  Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the successful launch of the missile reconfirmed the robustness of the Indian Navy's "mission readiness".

"Advanced sea to sea variant of BrahMos Supersonic Cruise missile was tested from INS Visakhapatnam today. Missile hit the designated target ship precisely," the DRDO tweeted.

"The robustness of @indiannavy mission readiness is reconfirmed today after the successful launch of the advanced version of BrahMos Missile from INS Vishakhapatnam today. I congratulate the wonderful team work of @indiannavy @DRDO_India & @BrahMosMissile," Singh tweeted.

BrahMos Aerospace, an India-Russian joint venture, produces supersonic cruise missiles that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or from land platforms.
BrahMos missile flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound.

A combination of the names of India's Brahmaputra and Russia's Moskva rivers, BrahMos missiles are designed, developed and produced by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture company set up by India's DRDO and Mashinostroyenia of Russia. Various versions of the BrahMos, including those which can be fired from land, warships, submarines and Sukhoi-30 fighter jets have already been developed and successfully tested. Earlier versions of the missile system are already in service of the Indian Navy and the Indian Army.

(SAM)