India urged to build new missile

NEW DELHI, June 14 (UPI) -- Former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam has called on the BrahMos aerospace company to develop an advanced cruise missile.

"You should develop a hypersonic version of BrahMos which can be reused ... meaning that the missile should be able to deliver its payload and return to base," he said at a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the launch of the first BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.

The BrahMos missile system, developed in partnership with Russia, is operational with India's army and navy. Work is also under way to develop an air-launched and underwater version of the missile.

The missile travels at speeds of nearly 2,300 mph and is about 3 1/2 times faster than the United States' subsonic Harpoon cruise missile.

The first launch was carried out a decade ago at the Interim Test Range at Chandipur-on-Sea, which coincided with Russia Formation Day which falls on June 12.