On late Thursday evening Pakistan’s military had claimed that a missile without a warhead had entered its airspace on Wednesday.
According to Indian government sources, it was a BrahMos missile which is supersonic and was fired accidentally.
An unarmed (without warheads) supersonic missile accidentally landed in part of Pakistan.
The missile was fired from near Sirsa in Haryana, and was expected to head towards the Mahajan Field Firing range in Rajasthan.
Instead the missile midway veered westwards and landed in a place in Pakistan.
At Sirsa, there is no BrahMos base; however the missile system can be moved from one location to another on specialized trucks.
Missiles like BrahMos are usually tested from the Andaman and Nicobar Command and from eastern flank.
In an official issued by the Ministry of Defence, the government “regrettably’’ admitted a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of the missile on March 2, 2022.
It was during a course of routine maintenance that the accident happened.
The projectile had landed in Mian Channu, Khanewal district of Punjab on Pakistan side on Wednesday.
The government has announced a high level Court of Enquiry and has also taken a serious view of the situation. There was no loss of life on the land in Pakistan.
According to the description which was given by the Pakistan side, it matched the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.
This missile is already in service with the Indian Armed Forces and is globally known for its accuracy.
As has been reported earlier, both the Indian Air Force and the Indian Army have this missile in service.
Also, the Indian Air Force has the air-launched BrahMos; this Indo-Russian joint venture missile can be fired from the Su-30 MKI, besides surface-to-surface missiles.
The missile has a range of over 400 kms and is considered to be the most dependable in the category of long range cruise missile which India has.
On Friday, Pakistan had also summoned the Charge d’Affaires of India and had lodged their protest over the unprovoked violation of its airspace.
It had in a statement mentioned that the projectile was of Indian origin and it was a `super-sonic flying object.’
The surface-to-surface missile, according to sources, can go up to several feet, and it all depends on how far the target is located, and it can cruise at various levels.
