NEW DELHI, June 21 (RIA Novosti) - India's Army put the BrahMos joint Russian-Indian supersonic cruise missile into service Thursday at an official ceremony in the capital.

The missile has been developed as a joint venture between India's Defense Research & Development Organization (DRDO) and Russia's Mashinostroyenia research-and-production center.

"BrahMos is the best example of Russian-Indian cooperation," said India's President Abdul Kalam, who is often called "the father of the Indian missile program."

BrahMos is designed to destroy surface targets flying at an altitude as low as 10 meters (30 feet) and at a speed of Mach 2.8, which is about three times faster than the U.S.-made subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile.

The missile was first tested successfully in 2004. Its sea-based version was adopted in June 2006 and deployed on Project 11356 Talvar-class (Kryvack) frigates built in Russia for the Indian Navy.

However, it took Russian and Indian experts a while longer to develop the missile so it was capable of destroying ground targets.

"We had to do some additional work on the guidance and satellite navigation systems [of the missile]," said Alexander Dergachyov, board chairman of the BrahMos joint venture.

The company is currently working on the development of an airborne version, which could be installed on the Sukhoi-30MKI air superiority fighters of the Indian Air Force.

Experts estimate that India might purchase up to 1,000 BrahMos missiles for its Armed Forces in the next decade and export 2,000 to third countries during the same period.