Brahmos Missiles

Brahmos Missiles
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Highlights

Brahmos Missiles. It is based on the Russian P-800 Oniks cruise missile and other similar sea-skimming Russian cruise missile technology.

Recently in Visakhapatnam to deliver GITAM University’s 35th Foundation Day, Brahmos Aerospace founder CEO and Managing Director A Sivathanu Pillai stated that BrahMos was not only the first but also the only super-sonic cruise missile in the world. BrahMos Aerospace CEO Sudhir Kumar Mishra also told OneIndia that the air version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile would be test-fired from a modified Sukhoi (Su-30 MKI) fighter during the end of this year.

The BrahMos is a short range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. It is a joint venture between the Russian Federation's NPO Mashinostroeyeniaand India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) which formed BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited.

It is based on the Russian P-800 Oniks cruise missile and other similar sea-skimming Russian cruise missile technology. The name BrahMos is a portmanteau formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia. It is the world's fastest cruise missile in operation.

The missile travels at speeds of Mach 2.8 to 3.0.The land-launched and ship-launched versions are already in service, with the air and submarine-launched versions currently in the testing phase. HAL had handed over the first BrahMos missile-integrated Sukhoi to the Indian Air Force (IAF) during Aero India 2015.

BrahMos-II or BrahMos-2 is a hypersonic cruise missile currently under joint development. It is expected to have a range of 290 kilometres and a speed of Mach 7. The planned operational range of the BrahMos-II has been restricted to 290 kilometres (180 mi) as Russia is a signatory to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which prohibits it from helping other countries develop missiles with ranges above 300 kilometres.

Its top speed will be double that of the current BrahMos-I, and it has been described as the fastest cruise missile in the world. Russia is developing a special and secret fuel formula to enable the BrahMos-II to exceed Mach 5. BrahMos Aerospace named the missile BrahMos-II (K) in honour of the former President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam.

BrahMos-NG (Next Generation) is a mini version based on the existing BrahMos, will have same 290-km range and mach 3 speed but it will only weigh around 1.5 tons, 6 meters in length and 50 cm in diameter, making BrahMos-NG 50 percent lighter and smaller than its predecessor.

BrahMos-NG will have lesser RCS (radar cross section) compared to its predecessor, making it harder for air defense systems to locate and engage the target. BrahMos-NG will have Land, Air, ship-borne and Submarine tube-launched variants. first test flight is expected to take place in 2017-18.

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