ST. PETERSBURG, July 11. /TASS/. The upgraded BrahMos universal cruise missile will be capable of striking targets at a range of over 500 km, BrahMos Company Russian Co-Director Alexander Maksichev told TASS at the St. Petersburg International Maritime Defense Show on Thursday.

"We already fired [BrahMos missiles] to a range of 400 km. Very soon, we will confirm that we can fire to a range of 500 km. This will be a sea-, ground- or air-launched version. Even 500 km plus," Maksichev said.

Head of the BrahMos Aerospace Russian-Indian Joint Venture Sudhir Kumar Mishra earlier told The Economic Times that the upgraded missile version with an extended range of up to 500 km was ready.

As the BrahMos Aerospace chief executive noted, it became possible to increase the missile’s range after India joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in 2016. The BrahMos missile that is currently operational has a range capability of 300 km.

The BrahMos missile has been developed by Russia’s Research and Production Association of Machine-Building (the town of Reutov near Moscow) and India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO).

The missile’s name comes from the names of two rivers: the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia. The missile’s first launch took place on June 12, 2001 from a coastal launcher. The missiles have been produced jointly by India and Russia.