India is to test fire the submarine-launched version of its supersonic cruise missile, Brahmos, by the end of this year, BrahMos Aerospace chief A Sivathanu Pillai said.

“We will test-fire the underwater version by the end of this year after we get the pontoon for the purpose,” he added.

The test firing of the missile, with a range of 290km, would be carried out at Integrated Test Range in Balasore on Orissa coast, India.

BrahMos underwater missiles will have the same capabilities as its earlier variants and will be capable of striking both land and sea-based targets.

Indian armed forces have already placed orders worth Rs200bn ($4.3bn).