The Hindu : Front Page : BrahMos launch successful

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Monday, Mar 30, 2009
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BrahMos launch successful

T.S. Subramanian

CHENNAI: The advanced version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile for attacking targets on land was successfully launched at Pokhran in Rajasthan on Sunday. This version belongs to the Block II series of the missile.

A. Sivathanu Pillai, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited, said the missile was now ready for induction into the Army.

The BrahMos rose from a mobile launcher at the Army’s range at 11.15 a.m. and reached its target more than 50 km away. It flew at a velocity of Mach 2 (twice the speed of sound).

Dr. Pillai called it “a perfect flight.” Out of multiple targets, the missile “discriminated” and hit “the bull’s eye” of the specified target, he said. Data from the missile’s global positioning system (GPS) was received.

This is the third launch in the series of the Block II version for the Army. With this launch, the Army’s requirements for the land attack version of the missile with an advanced seeker and software for hitting the given target out of a cluster of targets had been met and the version was ready for induction into the Army, a press release from the Defence Research and Development Organisation said.

Jointly produced by Russia and India, the BrahMos’ normal range is 290 km.

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