BrahMos cruise missile test-fired

The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was test-fired from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur near Balasore on Sunday.

After a vertical lift-off at 12.15 pm from launch pad number three at the ITR, 15 km from Balasore, the surface-to-surface missile rose into the sky leaving behind a ribbon of white smoke, defence sources said.

"The launch was successful, but we will have to analyse data for making an evaluation," a source said.

The launch was carried out from a mobile launcher, with an indigenously built multi-axle Tatra truck serving as the base platform.

The trajectory of the missile's flight was tracked by sophisticated instruments and radars on a ship located close to the point of impact in the Bay of Bengal, the sources said.

The BrahMos -- named after the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers -- was developed by a joint venture company set up by India and Russia following an agreement signed by the two countries on February 12, 1998.

Since its first test on June 12, 2001, from the ITR complex, it has undergone a dozen successful trials.