Indo-Russian missile tested

By Atul Aneja

NEW DELHI, JUNE 12. India and Russia today tested a state-of-the- art supersonic cruise missile, jointly developed, which may be unrivalled in the region.

The Defence Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, present at the Chandipur-on-sea test site, described the launch as a ``landmark in technology partnership''.

With a range of 280 km., the missile ``is the first of its kind in the world'' and will be simultaneously inducted into Indian and Russian arsenals. It is expected to be inducted in the next two years after several additional tests. One of its striking features is that it can be launched from land by a mobile launcher, ship, submarine or aircraft to target warships at very long distances. The missile offers two main advantages. It is highly accurate and can be guided to its target mainly with the help of an on-board computer. But unlike several other cruise missiles, it travels at supersonic speed in a sea-skimming profile. Because of its high speed, provided by its two-stage engines, it can defeat most ship-borne anti-missile defences, greatly adding to its strike-power. Even the state-of-the-art Barak anti-missile system, which India is planning to induct, has a proven capability of downing only sub-sonic missiles.

The development of this missile system more than equalises China's supersonic anti-ship missiles. Indian security planners had been concerned about Beijing's Moskit anti-ship missiles boarded on the recently-acquired Soverameny class warships. Besides, China also plans to fix the Sunburn missile, aerial variant of the Moskit, on its Russian-built SU-27 planes. With the supersonic cruise missile, India will be able to deter forays by Chinese warships, especially in the Indian Ocean.

President, PM hail test

PTI reports:

The President, Mr. K. R. Narayanan, and the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, today congratulated the Indian and Russian scientists for the feat.

In a message from Mumbai's Breach candy Hospital, Mr. Vajpayee congratulating the scientists said New Delhi would, however, continue to preach the doctrine of universal peace.

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