NEW DELHI, March 5 (UPI) -- A sea-based cruise missile developed jointly by Russia and India hit a designated ground target for the first time Wednesday, a report said.

The Indian manufacturer of the BrahMos says the test missile was launched from the destroyer INS Rajput and aimed at a target located in the Andaman archipelago, the Russian news agency Novosti reported.

All previous tests of the BrahMos involved sea-based targets.

Named after rivers in India and Russia, the BrahMos has a range of 180 miles and can carry a conventional warhead weighing up to 660 lbs.

It is about three times faster than the U.S.-made subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile.

Russia and India entered into a joint venture to design, develop and market a supersonic cruise missile in 1998.

Experts estimate that India might purchase as many as 1,000 of the missiles for its armed forces and export another 2,000 missiles to Third World counties.