The third successful
test-firing of the BrahMos-1 Block-3 supersonic land-attack cruise missile took
place at 10.38am on July 8, 2014 from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur
in Balasore, Odisha. Following its launch, the missile flew through the
designated 290km distance at Mach 2.8, culminating in a steep dive toward its designated
target. Dr A Sivathanu Pillai, CEO and MD of BrahMos Aerospace, confirmed that it
was a text book launch achieving 100% results, executed with high-precision
from a wheeled Mobile Autonomous Launcher (MAL) prepared by the Indian Army’s 3rd
BrahMos-1 regiment (the two earlier regiments possess the BrahMos-1 Block-2 missiles),
which is now being formed. In a historical first, the Block 3 missile’s advanced
navigation-cum-guidance system used an indigenously developed software algorithm
for integrating inputs from multiple GPS navigation satellites (like Glonass
& IRNSS-1).
