India Tests Fires BrahMos Cruise Missile Under Life Extension Program

The Indian Defense Research Development Organization (DRDO) test fired BrahMos cruise missile under life extension program.

The missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur along the Odisha coast on Monday morning.

The life of BrahMos missile has been extended from 10 to 15 years. This is the first time for an Indian missile to get a life extension technology, Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharanam tweeted.

The Brahmos missile, launched from a Su-30MKI fighter jet will be tested against a land target in the coming 2-3 months.

The missile was earlier tested against a sea target in November 2017. Once the land target test is completed, it will signal an end of the testing phase of the air-launched version, a senior executive from Brahmos Aerospace, the Indo-Russian joint venture had told defenseworld.net in April this year.

With the sea and land tests completed, the objectives of the air-launched missile testing phase would be completed, the executive said adding that the next step would be acceptance of the system by the Indian Air Force.

The air-launched Brahmos cruise missile is intended to take out critical infrastructure, ships and military targets on land. The missile, traveling at speeds of over Mach 5, will be difficult to intercept by current anti-missile systems in the world.

The launcher, trigger mechanism and control electronics have been made by Indian firms assisting Brahmos Aerospace. India's HAL has played a part in the integration of the system.