India is developing a sub-sonic cruise-type missile with a range of around 650 miles, The Press Trust of India reports.

The 19-foot-long and 1.5-foot-wide Nirbhav missile is under development and was "getting into some shape," V. K. Saraswat, scientific adviser to the defense minister and the head of the Defense Research and Development Organization, said.

Nirbhav, meaning "fearless" in Sanskrit, is being developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory, a division of the DRDO. It has an inertial navigational system, will reach Mach 0.7 and is designed to deliver more than 20 types of warheads.

The flight-trial of air-to-air missile Astra, with a range of 28 to 65 miles, is in preparation, but no date for a test launch was reported.

Saraswat was delivering the keynote address at a convention in Bangalore organized by the Aeronautical Society of India.

He said India's armed forces are looking for long duration loitering missiles that can enter enemy territory, seek targets including radar establishments and other concentrations of assets as well as enemy troop movements.

Saraswat made a case for deploying space-based object recognition sensors to keep tabs on adversaries and generally gather military intelligence, a Press Trust of India report said. This is especially essential for tracking and detection of troop movements and without the sensors India's ballistic missile defense system wouldn't be a "potent weapon" it should be.

To that end India is working on electro-optical payload and synthetic aperture radar. "So, unless we prepare ourselves for future space-based systems, security is going to be a major issue," he said.

The Nirbhav is intended to complement the military's BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.

Saraswat's comments come after India successfully tested a maneuverable version of the BrahMos, Indian media reported late last month. The missile in all versions has been a joint development with Russia.

The vertical-launch version of the 180-mile range BrahMos was tested from the warship INS Ranvir in the Bay of Bengal off India's eastern coast, the PTI news agency reported.

The vertical-launch version of missile successfully adjusted directions to hit a target ship, making it "a perfect mission," BrahMos aerospace chief A. Sivathanu Pillai was quoted as saying. "After today's test, India has become the first and only country in the world to have a maneuverable supersonic cruise missile in its inventory."

The missile's name is derived from two rivers, India's Brahmaputra and Russia's Moskva.

The BrahMos can carry a 440-pound conventional warhead. The inclined-launch variants of the missile fitted with inclined launchers are already in service with the Indian navy and army. Air- and submarine-launch variants are in development.