M A I N   N E W S

Brahmos tested successfully
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 29
India today successfully test-fired the universal supersonic cruise missile, Brahmos from the Interim Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur-on-sea, about 15 km from Balasore in Orissa.

Developed under an Indo-Russian joint venture project the missile, with a range of 290 km and operating on the principle of fire and forget, can carry a conventional warhead up to 200 kg. India is hoping to start the serial production of the missile by next year.

The nine-metre missile can be launched from submarine, ship, aircraft and land-based mobile autonomous launchers (MAL). The missile is launched from a transport-launch canister which also acts as storage and transportation container.

Primarily Brahmos is an anti-ship missile. It has the capability to engage land-based targets also.

The missile can be launched either in vertical or inclined position and can cover 360 degrees. It has its configuration for land, sea and sub-sea platforms.

Launched from a ship, the missile can fly up to a height of 14 km at twice the speed of sound.

It is charged by a solid propellant and has a preset trajectory. It can change its course to strike 20 km from the target. The missile, which weighs nearly three tonnes, has a shortened range when it flies near surface level. The missile was first test-fired on June 12, 2001, and again on April 28, 2002, from the ITR in presence of defence scientists from both India and Russia.

The name of the missile is derived from the Brahmaputra river and the Russian capital Moscow.

It has a censor warhead and could change the direction before 24 km. The missile could fly at zero level.

Agni-III tests put off till next year
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 29
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has put off the tests of the more than 3000-km range surface-to-surface missile — Agni III — till January next year.

The DRDO chief, Dr V.K. Atre, said here today that the tests had been put off till next year. Earlier, this year Defence Minister George Fernandes had expressed hope that `overdue’ tests for Agni-III might be carried out by the end of the year.

However, Dr Atre said, “The preparations are in full swing, but the tests will be carried out early next year”. The DRDO chief was talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a seminar on landslides and avalanches studies here.

The possession of Agni-III missile would give India the choice of striking almost anywhere in Pakistan and even deep into China.

The development of the Agni-III missiles is of great importance to New Delhi, specially keeping in mind the fact that Pakistan has stockpiled a number of M-11 Chinese-made ballistic missiles in its corner targeting India. Estimates here say that at least 80 of these Chinese-made missiles have been supplied to Pakistan.

Affirming that the process of induction of the 700-km shorter range Agni I and 1,500 or 2,000-km range Agni II had begun, Dr Atre said full user trials of the surface-to-surface Akash missiles would be carried out by the year-end.

The DRDO chief again gave indications of the revival of the shelved Trishul project. While the DRDO had earlier said that Trishul had for the time been put on the backburner, the Government had recently said that the project had not been shelved and the DRDO would actively take up the project again.

He said after the user trials of the Akash, which would then be offered for induction into the three services, the DRDO was planning to revive the multi-target capable Trishul missile project.

Dr Atre, however, said there were no plans to change the 150-300-km short range Prithvi missile from liquid propellent to solid fuel, saying that liquid propellents posed no targeting problems in shorter range missiles.

He said for longer reach, the entire Agni range of missiles had been powered by solid fuel propellents.

The government recently gave its approval for the raising of two more specialised missile groups 1—1 444 and 555 — in the Army and arm them with the Agni I and Agni II missiles.