INS Kolkata now looks set to join the Navy in July

The supersonic anti-ship cruise missile BrahMos was test-fired for the first time from a warship built in India, the yet-to-be-commissioned destroyer INS Kolkata, off the coast of Karwar in Karnataka on Monday.

While the Indo-Russian missile, with a 290-km range, is already in service on the Russia-built Rajput-class destroyers and Talwar-class frigates of the Navy, it was the first time that the missile demonstrated its capability from an indigenous warship, BrahMos CEO A. Sivathanu Pillai told The Hindu.

Built by the defence shipyard Mazagon Dock, INS Kolkata, displacing 7,000 tonnes, is the largest indigenous warship and the lead vessel of the class of three ships being constructed under the Navy’s Project 15-A.

The vessel, and the ships of its class, will be fitted with 16 BrahMos missiles each.