India, on March 20, successfully carried out the maiden test-firing of the over 290-km-range submarinelaunched version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile in the Bay of Bengal, thus becoming the first country in the world to have this capability.

“The submarine-launched version of BrahMos was successfully testfired from an underwater pontoon near Visakhapatnam,” BrahMos CEO A. Sivathanu Pillai said.

This is the first test firing of an underwater supersonic cruise missile anywhere in the world and it travelled its complete range of over 290 km, he said. He added that the performance of the missile during the test launch was “perfect”.

The maiden test of the submarinelaunched version of BrahMos comes over a week after the indigenously-built long-range subsonic cruise missile Nirbhay failed to hit its target in its first test.

“BrahMos missile is fully ready for fitment in submarines in vertical launch configuration which will make the platform one of the most powerful weapon platforms in the world,” Pillai said.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony congratulated DRDO scientists and Russian specialists along with officers of the Indian Navy associated with the project, for successful test launch of missile from an underwater platform.