Balasore: BrahMos, the supersonic Cruise missile jointly developed by India and Russia, was flight tested from the Bay of Bengal off the Orissa coast today (Nov 3, 2004), Defence sources said.

The naval version of the missile was test fired from the Indian Navy's destroyer INS Rajput at around 11:18 hrs (IST).

Essentially an anti-ship missile, BrahMos can also hit targets on land, the sources said.

Besides, the missile, which has multi-target capability and enjoys a manoeuvrable trajectory, can be fired from a mobile platform on land.

The missile has a striking range of 290 km and weighs about three tonnes. It is eight meter long and carries a conventional warhead weighing about 200 kg, the sources said.

A two-stage vehicle, the missile's propulsion consists of a solid propellant booster and a liquid propellant Ramjet system.

It is the first and only Supersonic Cruise missile, which uses the liquid Ramjet technology.

The missile cruises in the atmosphere at speed faster than sound and can travel at mach 2.8 to 3, the sources said adding it had been configured to be launched from ground including silos and ships, submarines and aircraft.

The product of an Indo-Russian joint venture company, the missile has derived its name from the great Indian river Brahmaputra and Moscva river in Russia.

The first Brahmos test fire had taken place at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur-on-sea on June 12, 2001. Today's test launch is the sixth in a series.