BRAHMOS underwater test-firing by year-end

NEW DELHI (PTI): India will testfire the submarine-launched version of the 290km range BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile by the end of this year.

"We will testfire the underwater version of the missile by the end of this year after we get the pontoon for the purpose," BrahMos Aerospace chief A Sivathanu Pillai told reporters here.

Underwater weapon-delivery platforms are considered to be the most potent second strike capability of countries' defence strength.

India has developed significant underwater weapon delivery platforms in the recent past including an indigenously-built nuclear submarine INS Arihant and successfully test-fired the nuclear capable 700km range K-15 Shaurya missile.

The Navy is also expecting to get a Russian-made Akula-II class 'Nerpa' nuclear submarine on lease soon.

The test-firing of the BRAHMOS underwater missile would be done from a pontoon at Integrated Test Range in Balasore on Orissa coast from a DRDO facility.

The same pontoon was used for carrying out the test-firing of the 700-km range K-15 'Shaurya' Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile a couple of years ago.

A ring will have to be fitted in the existing pontoon for fitting-in the BRAHMOS which has a relatively smaller diameter than the K-15 SLBM.

The under-water cruise missile will have the same capabilities as its earlier variants and would be able to strike at both land and sea-based targets.

BRAHMOS has been developed jointly by India and Russia and inducted in the Army and the Navy.

The two countries have also signed an agreement for developing the hypersonic version of the missile which currently flies at a speed of 2.8 mach.