India successfully test-fired the BrahMos cruise missile with the missile performing its first steep dive at supersonic speed, The Hindu reported on Monday.
The missile was launched from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, off Orissa, on Sunday. After reaching a flat trajectory, it dived vertically at three times the speed of sound.
This was BrahMos' 23rd flight.
"It was an important mission. For the first time, a cruise missile was tested at a supersonic speed in a steep-dive mode," A. Sivathanu Pillai, CEO of BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited, said.
"When you launch a missile, it goes up and reaches a flat trajectory. In this case, the BrahMos dove straight down from its flat trajectory while cruising at a supersonic speed," he said.
BrahMos Aerospace Ltd. is a Russian-Indian joint venture manufacturing supersonic cruise missiles.
RIA Novosti
