<p> BrahMos, the Russian-Indian supersonic cruise missile joint venture, is to test-fire its anti-ship version from a submarine platform by year-end, the venture's Russian partner NPO Mashinostroyenie said Friday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"We need a test-launch by the end of the year," said the company's deputy general director Alexander Dergachev. <br /><br />"A decision will be made on whether the weapon can be accepted for service with the Indian Navy, dependent on the outcome," he added.<br /><br />The test will be a single demonstration firing from a submerged raft, he said. <br />"When an operational carrier has been chosen, then further trials will continue," he said.<br />BrahMos, set up in 1998, produces three variants of the cruise missile, based on the NPO Mashinostroyenie 3M55 Yakhont (NATO SS-N-26) supersonic cruise missile already in service with Russia's Armed Forces.<br /><br />The Indian Army has already taken delivery of the land-launched variant. The navy already has the ship-launched missiles on ten vessels, Dergachev said.<br /><br />The Indian Air Force will also use the weapon from an upgraded batch of 42 Sukhoi Su-30MKI strike fighters it is expected to order later this year, Russia's Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said earlier this week in Delhi.<br /><br />"The missile has a range of 300 km, 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-2," he said.<br /><br />BrahMos can fly as low as 10 metres 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.<br /><br />Earlier this week, Russian daily Izvestia quoted defence industry sources as saying India has uprated its BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles by installing the advanced satellite navigation systems from Russia's Kh-555 and Kh-101 strategic long-range cruise missiles.</p>
<p> BrahMos, the Russian-Indian supersonic cruise missile joint venture, is to test-fire its anti-ship version from a submarine platform by year-end, the venture's Russian partner NPO Mashinostroyenie said Friday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"We need a test-launch by the end of the year," said the company's deputy general director Alexander Dergachev. <br /><br />"A decision will be made on whether the weapon can be accepted for service with the Indian Navy, dependent on the outcome," he added.<br /><br />The test will be a single demonstration firing from a submerged raft, he said. <br />"When an operational carrier has been chosen, then further trials will continue," he said.<br />BrahMos, set up in 1998, produces three variants of the cruise missile, based on the NPO Mashinostroyenie 3M55 Yakhont (NATO SS-N-26) supersonic cruise missile already in service with Russia's Armed Forces.<br /><br />The Indian Army has already taken delivery of the land-launched variant. The navy already has the ship-launched missiles on ten vessels, Dergachev said.<br /><br />The Indian Air Force will also use the weapon from an upgraded batch of 42 Sukhoi Su-30MKI strike fighters it is expected to order later this year, Russia's Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said earlier this week in Delhi.<br /><br />"The missile has a range of 300 km, 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-2," he said.<br /><br />BrahMos can fly as low as 10 metres 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.<br /><br />Earlier this week, Russian daily Izvestia quoted defence industry sources as saying India has uprated its BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles by installing the advanced satellite navigation systems from Russia's Kh-555 and Kh-101 strategic long-range cruise missiles.</p>