April 22, 2007 (FIDSNS)

The land version of the Supersonic Cruise Missile BrahMos- the fourteenth one to be precise, has been successful. The trial of the 290 Km range of the missile was carried out at Chandipur- on- Sea, Balasore in Orissa.

The complete test was carried out by Army personnel in the presence of Lt Gen BS Pawar, Commandant, School of Artillery, Major General VK Chaturvedi, Additional Director General Artillery, and a host of other senior Army officers. Emphasis was laid on the ability of the supersonic missile to carry out a number of exacting maneuvers during its flight towards a pre-determined target-point. Lt Gen Pawar expressed complete satisfaction at the missile’s performance especially in its display of additional capabilities and meeting all other mission objectives.

The flight trajectory was tracked with a special radar equipment. Indian Defence Ministry spokes man says “the testing passed successfully, and the appraisal of the mission will be prepared after an examination of all data received”.

A Sivathanu Pillai, who heads the BrahMos project, said that “We are going to deliver the missile to the army this year as orders have been placed with us.”

The missile is expected to be inducted into the army from August after two more validation trials. Sunday’s launch from the Interim Test Range in Chandipur, 15 km from Balasore, established the missile’s precision, long- range capabilities and high level of operational features required by the army in a theatre of war, said Pillai, the CEO of BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd.

BrahMos blasted off in the presence of Pillai, some 30 Russian scientists and experts from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from the ITR at 11.21 am.

The missile has already been inducted into the Indian Navy.