India May Test The BrahMos Cruise Missile In Andaman And Nicobar Islands Next Week

India is likely to conduct a missile test in the Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) Islands in the Indian Ocean next week.

The no-fly zone, indicative of a missile test, suggests that the missile to be tested could fly to a distance of 450 kilometres.

This development comes just weeks after India postponed a missile test after two Chinese spy ships entered the Indian Ocean.

Earlier this month, India had notified a no-fly zone over a part of the Indian Ocean for 10 and 11 November. However, it was cancelled after a Chinese intelligence-gathering vessel, Yuan Wang VI, entered the ocean space just days before the test.

Another Chinese spy ship, the one which docked in Sri Lanka's Hambantota earlier this year, entered the region just days later.

Equipped with surveillance equipment, these ships can track ballistic missiles and satellites and gather signal intelligence.

Later, India issued another NOTAM for 23 and 24 November. The Strategic Forces Command successfully launched the Agni-III ballistic missile on 23 November from the A P J Abdul Kalam Island, off the coast of Odisha.

Experts believe that the missile to be tested in the Islands next week is one of the many variants of the BrahMos cruise missile.

In February, India test-fired a BrahMos missile from a land-based launcher there.

An extended-range version of the BrahMos cruise missile was tested from the Islands in March.

In April, the A&N Command, the only tri-services command of the Indian armed forces, test-fired the anti-ship version of the BrahMos.

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