Footage Shows Indian Warship Firing Supersonic Cruise Missile

The Indian Navy on Wednesday released new footage demonstrating the launch of a homemade missile that could one day be used to strike Chinese targets.

The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile—developed by India- Russia joint venture BrahMos Aerospace—carried out a "successful engagement of [a] land target at enhanced range," India's navy said on X, formerly known as Twitter .

Video and pictures from the latest test showed a countdown followed by the weapon's firing from the deck of an unnamed naval vessel—possibly a Rajput-class destroyer—at an undisclosed location—likely somewhere in the Indian Ocean .

Indian authorities had earlier issued no-fly zone for January 22-23 in the Arabian Sea just off its west coast, and for January 24-25 in a section of the Bay of Bengal.

The successful demonistration of India's "precision strike capabity from combat- and mission-ready ships" was validation of New Delhi's "Atmanirbhar Bharat" policy, the Indian Navy said.

The phrase introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi means "self-reliant India," and now is a government program to promote a domestic industrial base , including the production of advanced defense equipment.

The BrahMos is a two-stage supersonic cruise missile that operates on the self-guided "fire-and-forget" principle. Its land-attack and anti-ship variants can be launched from multiple platforms including from the air, sea, undersea and ground vehicles.

India's Defense Research and Development Organization—part of the Defense Ministryin New Delhi—leads the Indian side of the intiative. Moscow's stake is through rocket designer NPO Mashinostroyeniya, a missile manufacturer sanctioned by the United States in 2014.

The Indian Navy and the DRDO conducted two consecutive sea attack tests of the extended-range BrahMos in order to validate its effectiveness in naval warfare , according to the Indian Defense Ministry's year-end review in 2023.

Both launches took place last November, when the supersonic cruise missiles, whose range was extended from 180 miles to over 310 miles, were launched from a Rajput-class warship as well as the INS Imphal , the third ship of India's latest Visakhapatnam class of guided-missile destroyers.

New Delhi's report also reaffirmed the BrahMos missile as one of the platforms being exported to foreign markets, placing Indian weaponry in the hands of some of China's closest neighbors .

One of those is the Philippines, a U.S. treaty ally, which is scheduled to receive its first batch of BrahMos missiles this year. Amid rising tensions between Beijing and Manila over disputed territories in the South China Sea , the anti-ship weapon is expected to greatly boost the Philippines' capacity to defend its coastal waters.

Indian maritime security expert Pooja Bhatt told the EurAsianTimes website last month that the Philippines' BrahMos missiles send a strong signal to potential adversaries about Manila's commitment to safeguarding territorial sovereignty .

The Indian-made cruise missile are confirmed to be deployed by the Philippine Marine Corps, while the Philippine Army is also expecting a future delivery of the capability, according to Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., chief of staff of the Philippines armed forces.