Indo-Russian Cruise Missile Launched From Advanced Warship, Hits Mach 2.8

A BrahMos supersonic cruise missile has successfully been test-fired from the state-of-the-art Indian stealth destroyer INS Kochi.

The Indian Navy's Kolkata-class guided missile destroyer Kochi successfully test-launched a BrahMos missile on Sunday, United News of India (UNI) reported.

The launch of the world's fastest cruise missile was part of the Acceptance Test Firing portion of a naval drill which was conducted on the country's west coast, UNI said.

This is the missile's third test fire: it was launched from the INS Kolkata in both June 2014 and February 2015. The goal of the Sunday launch was to validate the newest Kochi destroyer's systems.

INS Kochi, the second ship of the indigenously designed and constructed Project 15A (Kolkata-class) guided missile destroyers, was commissioned on 30 September 2015 by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar

© Photo : Wikipedia/Indian Navy

Commissioned by the Navy on September 30, 2015, the 7,500 metric ton destroyer featured sophisticated design concepts geared at improved survivability, stealth, sea-keeping and maneuverability.

Equipped with advanced weapons and sensors, the warship is capable of carrying a total of sixteen BrahMos missiles in two eight-cell vertical launch arrays.

The two-stage multi-mission missile, which was jointly developed by the Russian-Indian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace, has been in service with the Indian Navy since 2005.

The missile has a range of 290 kilometers and travels at a whopping speed of Mach 2.8; it is capable of being launched from land, sea, sub-sea and air against sea and land targets.

The Indian Air Forces plans to adopt the new BrahMos cruise missile, which can be launched from aircraft, in 2016.