In Pictures: India Tests Extended Range BrahMos Missile From Andaman And Nicobar Islands

India has tested the extended-range variant of BrahMos cruise missile from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the eastern Indian Ocean.

The missile was fired from a land-based launcher.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command, the only tri-service theatre command of the Indian Armed Forces, witnessed the launch.

The test comes just weeks after the "inadvertent release" of the missile from a base operated by the Indian Air Force during a maintenance drill. The cruise missile had landed in Pakistan's Punjab province.

Recent tests

In February, India test-fired a BrahMos missile from a land-based launcher in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

In January this year, the missile was test-fired from the Integrated Test Range Chandipur off the coast of Odisha.

On 8 December, the air-launched version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successfully test-fired from a Su-30MKI fighter jet, clearing it for serial production. The air-launched version of the BrahMos missile, also called BrahMos-A, is being integrated with Su-30 MKI fighters of the IAF. The IAF had test-fired the air-launched version of the BrahMos missile from a modified Su-30 MKI fighter for the first time in 2017.

These tests come at a time when the Philippines has signed a $375 million deal with BrahMos Aerospace Limited for the purchase of missiles for its land-based anti-ship missile system.