The world's fastest cruise missile - Supersonic cruise missile BrahMos - successfully hit decommissioned target ship 'Alleppey' located at a distance covering nearly the full range of the missile with high precision, India's defence officials said.
Launch of BrahMos was part of an acceptance testing-firing during a Naval drill being conducted on the west coast.
A press release said the missile, after performing high-level and complex manoeuvres, hit a decommissioned target ship “Alleppey” which was stationed 290 km away, the missile’s full range.
The firing had validated the newly commissioned INS Kochi’s systems. BrahMos would ensure the warship’s capability by engaging targets at long ranges on the sea, says Sudhir Mishra, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited, adding:“thus making the destroyer another lethal platform of the Indian Navy.”
The Navy had commissioned INS Kochi on September 30, this year. The 7,500-ton indigenously developed warship incorporates new design concepts for improved survivability, stealth, sea-keeping and manoeuvrability.
The warship has the advanced capability of carrying a total of 16 BrahMos missiles in two 8-cell vertical launch systems, besides other sophisticated weapons and sensors.
From 2007 onwards, the Army also has progressively inducted two regiments of BrahMos Block-I and II missiles, which have been developed to hit a specific small target with a low radar cross-section in a cluttered environment.