Indian Navy successfully test-fires advanced version of Brahmos missile

Context

The Indian Navy successfully test-fired an advanced version of the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile from a stealth destroyer in the Indian Ocean, demonstrating its increasing strike capability.

Key-points

• This missile hit its intended target with pinpoint accuracy after traversing an extended range trajectory and performing complex manoeuvres.
• The Indian Navy successfully demonstrated the accuracy of an extended-range land-attack Brahmos supersonic cruise missile.
• The missile was test-fired from stealth destroyer INS Chennai. 
• This achievement establishes the Indian Navy’s ability to strike even deeper and influence land operations further away from the sea, when and where required.
• Both Brahmos missile and INS Chennai are indigenously built and highlight the cutting-edge of Indian missile and ship-building prowess. 
• They reinforce the Indian Navy’s contribution towards the Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India endeavours.

About BrahMos 

• BrahMos Aerospace, an India-Russian joint venture, produces the supersonic cruise missiles.
• It is a joint venture between the Russian Federation's NPO Mashinostroyeniya and India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), who together have formed BrahMos Aerospace.
• The BrahMos (designated PJ-10) is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land.
• BrahMos missile flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound.
• It is the world's fastest anti-ship cruise missile in operation.
• The range of the advanced version of the missile is learnt to have been extended to around 350 km from the original 290 km. 
• In 2016, India became a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), India and Russia are now jointly developing a new generation of Brahmos missiles with 600 km-plus range.
• In 2019, India upgraded the missile with a new range of 500 km.