BrahMos Submarine Launch Test By Year-End

Russia will test fire the anti-ship version of the ballistic missile BrahMos from submarine platform by year-end, the Russian partner NPO Mashninostroyenie said Friday. "We need a test-launch by the end of the year," said the company's Deputy General Director Alexander Dergachev. "A decision will be made on whether the weapon can be accepted for service with the Indian Navy, dependent on the outcome". The test will be a single demonstration firing from a submerged raft, he said. "When an operational carrier has been chosen, then further trials will continue," he said. The Indian Army has already inducted the land-launched variant of BrahMos while the Navy has the ship-launched missiles on ten vessels. The Indian Air Force will order a batch of 43 Sukhoi Su-30MKI strike fighters to use the missiles, according to Russia's Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. "The missile had a range of 300 kilometers (180 miles), and will be vertically-launched by a gas generator in its launch container, which will eject the weapon by gas pressure, after which it will reach Mach two," he said. BrahMos can fly as low as 30 feet (10 m) or attack its target from a high angle, combined with supersonic speed and evasive maneuvering. BrahMos can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kg (660 lbs).