Indian Navy test-fires long range surface-to-air missile

NEW DELHI, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- The Indian Navy test-fired the jointly-produced Indo-Israeli long range surface-to-air missile from a Kolkata-class destroyer.

The Indian Ministry of Defense calls the test a milestone achievement for their program, which seeks to arm all major naval warships with the missile, also known as Barak-8, Defense News reports.

"The firing was undertaken on the Western Seaboard by INS Kolkata, wherein the missile successes fully intercepted an Aerial Target at extended ranges," the Indian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The missile, tested last year from an Israeli warship, was developed by India's Defence Research and Development Organization, Israel Aerospace, and a number of other organizations including Israel's Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure, Elta Systems, Rafael, and others, according to Times of India.

Barak-8, commissioned in 2006, has a range of 43 miles and is designed to protect naval ships from enemy aircraft, rockets and other missiles. When launched, the missile uses data received from an integrated radar system to predict the incoming threat's path, and intercept the target.

Officials initially planned to induct the missile in 2012, and have made no comment on the delay.