What is BrahMos?
The BrahMos is a short-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile, a joint development of India's
Defence Research and Development Organisation (
DRDO
)
and the
Russian Federation’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya (NPOM)
. The missile is named after two prominent rivers of India and Russia:
Brahmaputra
and
Moskva.
The BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between the DRDO and NPOM, was established following an intergovernmental agreement signed between India and Russia in 1998. In the joint venture, the Indian side holds a share of 50.5%, while the Russian side accounts for 49.5%.
The technology used in this joint venture is based on the Russian P-800 Oniks cruise missile and similar sea-skimming cruise missiles from Russia.
The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was first tested on
June 12, 2001
at Chandipur in Odisha. Since then, it has undergone numerous upgrades across various platforms, namely, the sea, land, and air. The BrahMos is known for its superior speed, 2.5 times flight range, and higher range compared to subsonic cruise missiles.
Technical Details of BrahMos
BrahMos is a medium-range
2 stage missile
. The propulsion of BrahMos can be explained as follows:
|
Stage 1
|
-
Solid Propellant Booster Engine
-
Is separated after it reaches MACH-1 or Supersonic speed
|
|
Stage 2
|
-
Liquid Ramjet Engine
-
Takes the missile close to MACH 3 in cruise phase
|
Special Features of BrahMos
-
Stealth Technology
-
Advanced guidance system
-
High Target Accuracy (irrespective of weather conditions)
-
Constant supersonic speed
-
Operates on ‘
Fire and Forget
’ Principle
-
BrahMos can be launched from land, aircraft, ships, and even submarines.
-
One of the heaviest missiles, weighing up to 2.5 tonnes
BrahMos Recently in the News
-
In
December 2021
, the Defence minister of India laid the foundation for the BrahMos Aerospace cruise missile manufacturing unit in
Lucknow
. The setting up of the manufacturing unit will help in generating employment in and around the area.
-
On
January 11, 2022
, an advanced sea-to-sea variant of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was tested from the INS Visakhapatnam.
-
On
January 28, 2022
,
the Philippines
placed an order of $375 million for the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles . It is the first export order from a foreign country.
-
On
May 12, 2022
, India successfully launched the
extended-range version
of the BrahMos missile for the first time from Su-30MKI fighter aircraft. With this maiden launch, India will be able to carry out precision strikes against a land or sea target over a long range from Su-30MKI fighter aircraft.
Click on the link to get the
List Of Types Of Missiles In India
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