The Indian Navy successfully test fired a BrahMos supersonic cruise missile on May 14 using its frontline guided missile destroyer INS Mormugao. The ship and the weapon are both indigenous.
The INS Mormugao hit a bull’s eye with the maiden BrahMos supersonic cruise missile firing. It is the latest guided-missile destroyer to be used by the Indian Navy. “The ship and her potent weapon, both indigenous, mark another shining symbol of Atma Nirbharta and Indian Navy’s firepower at sea,” said a senior Indian Navy official in a statement after the test.
BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited is an Indian-Russian joint venture, responsible for producing supersonic cruise missiles that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land platforms. India also exports the BrahMos missiles, a two-stage missile with a solid propellant booster engine as its first stage, that fly at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound. The country sealed a $375 million deal with the Philippines for supplying three batteries of the missile in January last year.
INS Mormugao is the second of the Project 15B stealth-guided missile destroyers. The destroyer has been named after an important port in Goa. It was built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL). It was commissioned into the Indian Navy on December 18, 2022.
