BrahMos

BrahMos (Hindi: ब्रह्मोस, Russian: Брамос) is a supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. It is a joint venture between Republic of India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russian Federation's NPO Mashinostroeyenia who have together formed BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited. 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.An air-launched variant of BrahMos is planned which is expected to come out in 2012 and will make India the only country with supersonic cruise missiles in their army, navy, and air force. A hypersonic version of the missile namely BrahMos-II is also presently under development with speed of Mach 7 to boost aerial fast strike capability. It is expected to be ready for testing by 2017.

Though India had wanted the BrahMos to be based on a mid range cruise missile like P-700 Granit, Russia opted for the shorter range sister of the missile, P-800 Oniks, in order to comply with Missile Technology Control Regime restrictions, to which Russia is a signatory. Its propulsion is based on the Russian missile, and guidance has been developed by BrahMos Aerospace. 

The BrahMos has been developed as a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) of India and the Federal State Unitary Enterprise NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM) of Russia under BrahMos Aerospace. The missile is named after two rivers, the Brahmaputra and the Moskva.

Since late 2004, the missile has undergone several tests from variety of platforms including a land based test from the Pokhran range in the desert, in which the 'S' manueuver atMach 2.8 was demonstrated for the Indian Army and a launch in which the land attack capability from sea was demonstrated.

Keltec (now known as BrahMos Aerospace Trivandrum Ltd or BATL), an Indian state-owned firm was acquired by BrahMos Corporation in 2008.Approximately 1,500 crore(US$258.0 million) will be invested in the facility to make BrahMos components and integrate the missile systems. This was necessitated by the increased order book of the missile system, with orders having been placed by both the Indian Army and Navy. Out of a total share capital of approximately $300 million, India's financial contribution has been 50.5%.

BrahMos is the world's fastest cruise missile.

BrahMos has the capability of attacking surface targets by flying as low as 10 metres in altitude. It can gain a speed of Mach 2.8, and has a maximum range of 290 km. The ship-launched and land-based missiles can carry a 200 kg warhead, whereas the aircraft-launched variant (BrahMos A) can carry a 300 kg warhead. It has a two-stage propulsion system, with a solid-propellant rocket for initial acceleration and a liquid-fuelled ramjet responsible for sustained supersonic cruise. Air-breathing ramjet propulsion is much more fuel-efficient than rocket propulsion, giving the BrahMos a longer range than a pure rocket-powered missile would achieve.

The high speed of the BrahMos likely gives it better target-penetration characteristics than lighter subsonic cruise-missiles such as the Tomahawk. Being twice as heavy and almost four times faster than the Tomahawk, the BrahMos has more than 32 times the on-cruise kinetic energy of a Tomahawk missile, although it carries only 3/5 the payload and a fraction of the range despite weighing twice as much, which suggests that the missile was designed with a different tactical role. Its 2.8 mach speed means that it cannot be intercepted by some existing missile defence system and its precision makes it lethal to water targets.

Although BrahMos was primarily an anti-ship missile, the BrahMos Block III can also engage land based targets. It can be launched either in a vertical or inclined position and is capable of covering targets over a 360 degree horizon. The BrahMos missile has an identical configuration for land, sea, and sub-sea platforms. The air-launched version has a smaller booster and additional tail fins for added stability during launch. The BrahMos is currently being configured for aerial deployment with the Su-30MKI as its carrier. On 5 September 2010 BrahMos created a record for the first supersonic steep dive.

Air-launched variant

The air-launched version of BrahMos.

The air-launched version for the Indian Air Force was ready for testing in 2008.

An expert committee from the DRDO and the Indian Air Force (IAF) had ruled out any structural modifications to the Sukhoi Su-30MKI to carry the missile.

On 22 October 2008, A. Sivathanu Pillai, Chief Controller, R&D, DRDO and CEO and managing director of BrahMos Aerospace, announced that trials and tests were to be carried out by 2011, and the IAF would get its own version of BrahMos by 2012.

On 10 January 2009, it was reported that two Indian Air Force Su-30MKI fighter jets were sent to Russia for a retrofit program that would enable them to launch the missile.

 On 8 August 2009, Alexander Leonov, Director of the Russian Machine Building Research and Production Center, said "we are ready for test launches." He also said that a new takeoff engine for launching of the missile in air and at extreme high altitudes had been developed, and the initial test firing of the missile would be undertaken from the Su-30 MKI, but did not specify the dates. On 26 February 2012, A. Sivathanu Pillai said that the air-launched version of BrahMos is being developed and will be tested by the end of 2012. This version of the BrahMos missile will use air breathing scramjet propulsion technology and would be more fuel efficient than a traditional rocket-powered missile.

The purchase of over 200 air-launched BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles for the IAF was cleared by Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on 19 October 2012, at the cost of 6,000 crore (US$1 billion). This would include funds for the integration and testing of the BrahMos on Su-30MKI of the IAF. As per this plan, the first test of the air-launched version of the missile was to be conducted by December 2012. Two Su-30MKI of the IAF would be modified by the HAL at its Nashik facility where they will also be integrated with the missile's aerial launcher.

A new, smaller variant of the air-launched BrahMos is also under development. This variant would arm the Sukhoi Su-30MKI, Mirage 2000 and future inductions such as the 126 multirole combat aircraft. A model of the new variant was showcased on 20 February 2013, at the 15th anniversary celebrations of BrahMos Corporations. The miniaturized version would also have a range of 290 km, but it will be shorter three metres as compared to the present missile. The Sukhoi SU-30MKI would carry three missiles while other combat aircraft would carry one each.

Surface to surface variant

BrahMos was first test-fired on 12 June 2001 from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur in a vertical launch configuration. On 14 June 2004 another test was conducted at ITR and BrahMos was fired from a mobile launcher. On 5 March 2008, the land attack version of the missile was fired from the destroyer INS Rajput and the missile hit and destroyed the right target among a group of targets. The vertical launch of BrahMos was conducted on 18 December 2008 from INS Ranvir (D54). The BrahMos I Block-I for the army was successfully tested with new capabilities in the deserts of Rajasthan, at a test range near Pokharan in December 2004 and March 2007.

During a user trial on 20 January 2009, BrahMos was tested with a new navigation system but it failed to hit the target. BrahMos Aerospace Corporation's director Dr Sivathanu Pillai said, "The missile performance was absolutely normal until the last phase, but the missile missed the target, though it maintained the direction." and that "The problem was in the software, not hardware". The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) said that there were "small hitches" in the last stage of the test firing, which was attributed that to the US GPS satellites, which were switched off on that day as Barack Obama was sworn in as the President of the United States. The missile traveled for 112 seconds instead of the slated 84 seconds and fell 7 km away from the target. According to BrahMos Corporation, another test of the new missile was to be conducted within one month, but it was eventually conducted on 4 March 2009 and was deemed successful.BrahMos was test-fired again on 29 March 2009. For the test, the missile had to identify a building among a cluster of buildings in an urban environment. BrahMos successfully hit the intended target in two and a half minutes of launch. According to official sources, "The new seeker is unique and would help us to hit our targets, which are insignificant in terms of size, in a cluster of large buildings. India is now the only nation in the world with this advanced technology"After the third test, Lt Gen Noble Thamburaj, said that the Indian Army wanted the BrahMos to achieve high standards of accuracy and congratulated the scientists on behalf of the Indian Army. The Indian Army confirmed that the test was extremely successful and the army is absolutely satisfied with the missile. This marking the completion of the development phase of BrahMos Block-II, and it was ready for induction.

On 21 March 2010, BrahMos was test-fired and struck a free-floating ship piercing it above the waterline and destroying it completely. The test proved the missile's ability to manoeuvre at supersonic speed before hitting a target, making India the first and only country to have a manoeuvrable supersonic cruise missile.

The 5 September 2010 test of BrahMos created a world record for being the first cruise missile to be tested at supersonic speeds in a steep-dive mode. The missile was test-fired from the integrated test range launching complex-3 (LC-3) at Chandipur around 11.35 am. With this launch, the army's requirement for land attacks with Block-II advanced seeker software with target discriminating capabilities was met. BrahMos became the only supersonic cruise missile possessing advanced capability of selection of a particular land target amongst a group of targets, providing an edge to the user with precise hit.

The Block III version of the missile was successfully test-fired by India on 2 December 2010 from Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur off the Orissa coast. Block III had advanced guidance and upgraded software, incorporating high manoeuvres at multiple points and steep dive from high altitude. The steep dive capability of the Block III enables it to hit targets hidden behind a mountain range. It will be deployed in Arunachal Pradesh. It can engage ground targets from an altitude as low as 10 meters for surgical strikes with out any collateral damage. It is capable of being launched from multiple platforms like submarines, ships, aircraft and land based Mobile Autonomous Launchers (MAL). On 12 August 2011, it was test-fired by ground forces and met all mission parameters. It was test-fired by an Indian Army unit on 4 March 2012 at the Pokharan range in Jaisalmer to operationalise the second regiment of the weapon system in the army.The test was attended by senior Army officials including Vice Chief Lt. Gen. Shri Krishna Singh and Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Lt. Gen. A K Chaudhary. With this test, the second BrahMos unit of the Indian Army became operational.