India successfully test-fired the BrahMos cruise missile with the missile performing its first steep dive at supersonic speed, The Hindu reported on Monday.

The missile was launched from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, off Orissa, on Sunday. After reaching a flat trajectory, it dived vertically at three times the speed of sound.

This was BrahMos' 23rd flight.

"It was an important mission. For the first time, a cruise missile was tested at a supersonic speed in a steep-dive mode," A. Sivathanu Pillai, CEO of BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited, said.

"When you launch a missile, it goes up and reaches a flat trajectory. In this case, the BrahMos dove straight down from its flat trajectory while cruising at a supersonic speed," he said.

BrahMos Aerospace Ltd. is a Russian-Indian joint venture manufacturing supersonic cruise missiles.

The BrahMos missile has a range of 290 km (180 miles) and can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kg (660 lbs). It can effectively engage targets from an altitude as low as 10 meters (30 feet) and has a top speed of Mach 2.8, which is about three times faster than the U.S.-made subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile.

Established in 1998, BrahMos Aerospace manufactures and markets BrahMos supersonic missiles. Sea- and ground-launched versions have been successfully tested and put into service with the Indian Army and Navy.

MOSCOW, September 6 (RIA Novosti)