India test-fires 'BrahMos' cruise missile

The missile has a flight range of up to 290 kilometers, capable of carrying a conventional warhead of 300 kilogrammes.

BHUBANESHWAR: India today successfully test fired a supersonic cruise missile, BrahMos, as part of a user trial by the army from a test range at Chandipur off the coast of Orissa.

The missile, which has a flight range of up to 290 kilometers, is capable of carrying a conventional warhead of 300 kilogrammes.

"The cruise missile was test fired from a ground mobile launcher from the launch complex-3 at about 10:30 hours and the data is being retrieved for analysis," defence sources said.

The cruise missile, a surface-to-surface army version, was test fired as part of user trial by the Army, sources said.

The two-stage missile, the first one being solid and the second one, a ramjet liquid propellant, has already been inducted into the Army and Navy, and the Air-Force version is in final stages of a trial, according to Indian defence officials.