The Indian Navy has successfully conducted a test-firing of its highly manoeuvrable naval version of the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile from Talwar-class ship INS Tarkash (F46), off the coast of Goa, India.
During the testing, the missile conducted high-level ‘C’ manoeuvre in the pre-defined trajectory, hit the designated target successfully, while meeting all the mission objectives, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI).
BrahMos Aerospace CEO A Sivathanu Pillai said that the missile trial has been conducted as part of acceptance test firing (ATF) for deployment aboard the INS Tarkash.
The missile has been developed by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and NPO Mashinostroeyenia of Russia.
Based on the Russian-built P-800 Oniks/Yakhont supersonic anti-ship cruise missile, the 290km-range weapon has a speed of Mach 2.8 and can be launched from land, naval and air platforms.
In addition to Brahmos supersonic cruise missiles, 126m-long INS Tarkash will be armed with eight-cell 3S14E vertical missile launcher for 3M-54E Klub-N anti-ship missiles, as well as two Kashtan Air Defence close-in weapon systems.
Powered by combined gas turbine propulsion systems, INS Trakash is a modified version of the Krivak III-class ship and is capable of cruising at a maximum speed of 30k.
Integrated with a Trebovaniye-M combat information and control system, the Talwar-class vessels have been designed to detect and eliminate enemy submarines and large surface ships, while supporting naval forces during air, surface and sub-surface missions.
BrahMos ground and ship-launched variants have been successfully inducted into service with the Indian Army and Navy, while the Indian Air Force (IAF) is planning to equip Sukhoi SU-30MKI Flanker-H aircraft with aircraft-launched variant, BrahMos A.
Image: BrahMos supersonic cruise missile on display. Photo: courtesy of Anurag.
