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BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile

Posted on June 13, 2022 by admin1  20

In Context 

  • BrahMos has been upgraded several times, with versions tested on land, air and sea platforms since its first  lauch. 
    • The first successful test in 2001 was conducted from a specially designed land-based launcher. 

Background and development

  • In the early 1980s, the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme, conceived and led by Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, started developing a range of missiles including Prithvi, Agni, Trishul, Akash and Nag, with a wide spectrum of capabilities and ranges.
  • In the early 1990s, India’s strategic leadership felt the need for cruise missiles — guided missiles that traverse the majority of their flight path at almost constant speed and deliver large warheads over long distances with high precision. 
    • The need was felt primarily following the use of cruise missiles in the Gulf War.
  • Signing the Agreement: 
    • An Inter-Governmental Agreement was signed with Russia in Moscow in 1998 by Dr Kalam, who headed the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and N V Mikhailov, Russia’s then Deputy Defence Minister. 
      • This led to the formation of BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between DRDO and NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM), the Indian side holding 50.5% and the Russians 49.5%.
  • In 1999, work on development of missiles began in labs of DRDO and NPOM after BrahMos Aerospace received funds from the two governments. 

Strategic significance

  • BrahMos is a two-stage missile with a solid propellant booster engine.
  • Its first stage brings the missile to supersonic speed and then gets separated.
  • The liquid ramjet or the second stage then takes the missile closer to three times the speed of sound in cruise phase. 
  • The missile has a very low radar signature, making it stealthy, and can achieve a variety of trajectories. 
  • The ‘fire and forget’ type missile can achieve a cruising altitude of 15 km and a terminal altitude as low as 10 m to hit the target.
  • Cruise missiles such as BrahMos, called “standoff range weapons”, are fired from a range far enough to allow the attacker to evade defensive counter-fire.
  • The BrahMos has three times the speed, 2.5 times flight range and higher range compared to subsonic cruise missiles. 
  • An extended range version of the BrahMos air-launched missile was tested from a Sukhoi-30 MKI recently. 
  • Recently, an advanced sea-to-sea variant of BrahMos was tested from the newly commissioned INS Visakhapatnam.

Present and future

  • With requirements evolving in multi-dimensional warfare, the BrahMos is undergoing a number of upgrades and work is on to develop versions with higher ranges, manoeuvrability and accuracy.
  • Versions currently being tested include ranges up to 350 km, as compared to the original’s 290 km. 
    • Versions with even higher ranges, up to 800 km, and with hypersonic speed are said to be on cards.
  •  Efforts are also on to reduce the size and signature of existing versions and augment its capabilities further.

Versions 

  • Versions deployed in all three Armed forces are still being tested regularly, and so are versions currently under development.
    • LAND-BASED: The land-based BrahMos complex has four to six mobile autonomous launchers, each with three missiles on board that can be fired almost simultaneously. 
      • Batteries of the land-based systems have been deployed along India’s land borders in various theatres.
      • The upgraded land attack version, with capability of cruising at 2.8 Mach, can hit targets at a range up to 400 km with precision.
      • Advanced versions of higher range and speed up to 5 Mach are said to be under development. 
      • The ground systems of BrahMos are described as ‘tidy’ as they have very few components.
  • SHIP-BASED: The Navy began inducting BrahMos on its frontline warships from 2005. These have the capability to hit sea-based targets beyond the radar horizon. 
    • The Naval version has been successful in sea-to-sea and sea-to-land modes. 
    • The BrahMos can be launched as a single unit or in a salvo of up to eight missiles, separated by 2.5-second intervals. 
    • These can target a group of frigates with modern missile defence systems.
  • AIR-LAUNCHED: On November 22, 2017, BrahMos was successfully flight-tested for the first time from a Sukhoi-30MKI against a sea-based target in the Bay of Bengal. It has since been successfully tested multiple times.
    • BrahMos-equipped Sukhoi-30s, which have a range of 1,500 km at a stretch without mid-air refuelling, are considered key strategic deterrence for adversaries both along land borders and in the strategically important Indian Ocean Region. 
    • The IAF is said to be integrating BrahMos with 40 Sukhoi-30 fighter jets across the various bases.
  • SUBMARINE-LAUNCHED: This version can be launched from around 50 m below the water surface. 
    • The canister-stored missile is launched vertically from the pressure hull of the submarine, and uses different settings for underwater and out-of-the-water flights. 
    • This version was successfully tested first in March 2013 from a submerged platform off the coast of Visakhapatnam.

Source:IE

 
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