India tests supersonic cruise missile

[Naveed Yaseen]

NEW DELHI (December 19 2008): India successfully tested a supersonic cruise missile from a moving ship for the first time on Thursday, in what officials said was a major boost for the South Asian nation's defence capabilities. The launch comes at a time of heightened tension between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, who have fought three wars since independence in 1947, over last month's Mumbai attacks.

Indian defence officials said the launch had been planned well before the Mumbai attacks, which India blames on Islamist militants operating in Pakistan. The Brahmos missile, named after India's Brahmaputra river and Russia's Moscow river, can travel at up to 2.8 times the speed of sound and has a range of 290 km (180 miles), according to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

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