India ready to fire BrahMos missile from submarine

India is almost ready with its undersea launch version of the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile and wants the Navy to help in preliminary test trials by the end of the year.

The Navy's help is being sought as the DRDO lacks a platform to undertake tests of the submarine-launched Brahmos missile. The Indian Navy's present fleet of just upgraded Kilo class submarines do not have the capability to testfire such missiles which will put India among the few countries who have the capability to launch underwater supersonic missiles.

The Indian Navy's present fleet of just upgraded Kilo class submarines do not have the capability to testfire such missiles, BrahMos Aerospace CEO A Sivathanu Pillai said.

"We are in talks with the Navy to loan one of their expanded Kilo-class or some other submarine to undertake the tests," he said.

Alternately, New Delhi has also proposed that initial tests could be undertaken in Russian waters on Russian naval platform. "We are ready with the designs and looking for a platform to launch the missile from under the sea," Pillai said. India has already inducted the warship version of the 290-km range missile and the surface-to-surface version is also ready for induction this year, he said.

"We need a five-metre space on the submarine to store the missile module "" each one carrying eight missiles," Pillai said.

The BrahMos is being configured for Russia's Amur class submarines that are likely to compete for second-line of submarine construction at Mumbai's Mazgaon Docks parallel to the French Scorpene line.

Pillai said the twelve tests of BrahMos missile, carried out in extreme conditions, have been successful and scientists were working on projects to equip multi-role Sukhoi fighter aircraft with the missile.