The
BrahMos cruise missile, developed by Brahmos Aerospace, an
Indo-Russian joint venture company, is a formidable weapon. Based on
the design of Yakhont supersonic missile from Mashinostroeyenia of
Russia, BrahMos is a stealth supersonic cruise missile, that travels
at speeds between 2.8 Mach to 3 Mach. (2.8 to 3 times the speed of
sound waves propagation.) This missile, weighing 3 tons can fly along
a variable trajectory on the altitudes from 10 meters to 14 Km at
supersonic speeds delivering a payload of 250 Kg over a range of 290
Km.
The
BrahMos programme was initiated by India's Defence Research and
Development Organisation or DRDO and Russian Federation's NPO
Mashinostroeyenia. A company named as BrahMos Aerospace Private
Limited was formed by these two organisations to develop this
missile. The name BrahMos is formed from the names of two rivers,
the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.
The
first prototype of the missile was flown in 2001 and in the last
decade, few more test flights were carried. On March 21, 2010 the
missile was test fired and it hit a free-floating ship piercing it
above the waterline and destroying it completely. The test proved the
missile's ability to maneuver at supersonic speeds before hitting a
target, making India as the first and only country to have a
maneuverable supersonic cruise missile. On September 5, 2010 a test
firing proved capability of this missile to fly in a complex
trajectory including large maneuvers and steep dive at supersonic
speeds.
BrahMos
missiles were inducted into Indian Army for the first time in 2007,
and since then three BrahMos regiments have been formed with two of
them already inducted operationally. The two-stage missile, the
first stage having a solid propellant and the second one having
ramjet liquid propellant was inducted into Indian Navy recently. The
first version of Brahmos missile system was deployed on Indian Naval
ship Rajput.
In the
beginning of October 2012, Indian Navy successfully test-fired the
new version of the 290-km range BrahMos, now capable of carrying a
conventional warhead of 300 kg, from a warship. The test carried off
the Goa coast by INS Teg; which is the Indian Navy's latest induction
from Russia, was successful with the missile performing high-level
maneuvers before hitting the target ship.
Russian
daily 'The Izvestia' has now come out with more information about
this new version of the BrahMos missile. It says that the missile now
has a new satellite guidance system borrowed from Russia’s
long-range cruise missile X-555 and its latest version, X-101. The
new guidance technology, which uses Russia's Global Navigation
Satellite System or Glonass (Similar to the U.S. Global Positioning
System, GPS) has been added to the BrahMos’ Doppler-inertial
guidance system to increase its range and precision. The Izvestia
says further that; “The integration of the X-555 and BrahMos
navigation systems has produced a super rocket with a sub-strategic
capability above its tactical range. Fired from land, air and sea
platforms, it can hit targets at ranges of 300 to 500 kilometres and
is also capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.”
India
also plans to mount the BrahMos missiles on its Sukhoi 30MKI
long-range fighters. The Manufacturers say that the flight tests of a
Su-30MKI fitted with a modified BrahMos missile will start before the
end of the year and firing tests wouldl be conducted next year.
Besides this, a submarine-launched version of the BrahMos would also
be test fired from a submerged platform for the first time by
year-end.
It is
clear that if when these tests are successful, the BrahMos will
become a truly universal missile, which can be launched from ground
mobile launchers, aircraft, surface warships and submarines. For the
first time Indian armed forces would have a truly formidable weapon
up their sleeves.
17
October 2012
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