About: BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile

  • BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile that can attain speeds 2.8 times that of sound (Mach 2.8).

  • This cruise missile can be guided towards a pre-determined land- or sea-based target.

  • It can be launched from land, sea and air, from warships, submarines, aircraft, and mobile autonomous launchers.

  • Bramhos is the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile.

  • The original BrahMos is of 290-km range, with development works happening on extending its range to 400 km and above.

Development:

  • BrahMos is being produced by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between India's DRDO and Mashinostroyenia of Russia. The name BrahMos is an amalgam of the names of the rivers Brahmaputra and Moskva.

  • Russia still supplies the missile’s ramjet propulsion system and seeker technology, while India provides the inertial navigation system and fire control system.

  • Meanwhile, India is making a concerted effort over the last few years to incrementally indigenize the various components and subsystems of the BrahMos missile. For example, in 2018, BrahMos successfully flight-tested for the first time with an Indian seeker.

Will be hypersonic in the future:

  • A newer version under development is aimed at flying at speeds greater than Mach 5.  These are called hypersonic cruise missiles.

  • Besides decreasing the reaction time of the enemy, higher speeds also substantially reduce the chances of the missile getting intercepted.

 

Induction into Indian armed forces:

  • Army: Indian Army already has BrahMos Regiment deployed on western and eastern borders.

    • The Army variant is capable of striking targets in urban environments.

  • Navy: The first version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was inducted into the Indian Navy in 2005, meant to be fired from INS Rajput. Since then, it has been integrated with various Indian Navy warships.

    • The anti-ship variant augments the Navy’s first strike capabilities.

  • IAF: IAF is testing the air-launched versions of the missiles from the Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft, and will soon induct them into their arsenal.

    • IAF is testing missiles that could hit both land-based and sea-based targets. This can help IAF strike both in the Indian Ocean as well as in strikes across the Indian border.

 

News Summary:

  • The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully tested the extended range (400 km) Brah-Mos supersonic surface-to-surface cruise missile or Land-Attack Cruise Missile (LACM).

  • BrahMos is one of the most advanced weapons in India’s armoury.

  • In the recent years, BrahMos has emerged as the primary precision-strike conventional weapon for the armed forces.

  • The original 290-km range BrahMos, jointly developed with Russia, has already been deployed in Ladakh as well as Arunachal Pradesh during the ongoing military confrontation with China.

Boost to Made in India:

  • The latest missile tested features indigenous Booster and Airframe Section along with many other ‘Made in India’ sub-systems.

  • The government said it is one more major step in enhancing the indigenous content of the missile.

 Defence & Security