Context: Cabinet Committee on Security has approved the acquisition of over 200 BrahMos extended range supersonic cruise missiles for deployment on warships of Indian Navy. The deal is expected to cost Rs 19,000 crore for the exchequer.
About Brahmos Supersonic Cruise Missiles
- Brahmos is a medium range ramjet supersonic cruise missile.
- Brahmos is a two stage missile:
- First stage: Powered by solid propellant booster engine as its first stage with brings it to supersonic speed.
- Second stage: Powered by Liquid ramjet engine that takes the missile closer to 3 Mach speed in cruise phase.
- Flight range: Brahmos has a flight range of up to 290 km with supersonic speed all through the flight, leading to shorter flight time, consequently ensuring lower dispersion of targets, quicker engagement time and non-interception by any known weapon system in the world.
- Altitude: Cruising altitude of Brahmos is up to 15 km and terminal altitude is as low as 10 metres.
- Warhead capacity: It can carry a conventional warhead weighing 200-300 kgs.
- Launch capability: Brahmos has capability to be launched from land, sea, air and submarines. Brahmos has identical configuration for all the platforms and uses a Transport Launch Canister for transportation, storage and launch.
- Fire and forget principle: Brahmos operates on the principle of Fire and Forget which means that the missile system adopts varieties of flights on its way to the target.
- Range of Brahmos was kept at 290 km as India was earlier not a signatory of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). MTCR prohibits member countries to transfer technologies for missiles with range up to 300 km. Since, Russia is a party to the MTCR it did complied with the regulations of MTCR.
Ship based Brahmos: This version has been designed for launch in either vertical or inclined mode from a moving or static maritime platform against sea or land targets. It has been deployed on Indian Navy's frontline surface combat platforms as the prime strike weapon. This version also has 'salvo' launch capability, where multiple missiles can be fired in different trajectories to hit a single or group of targets. It is primarily used as Anti-Ship Missile.
Air-launched Brahmos: Brahmos Air Launched Cruise Missile (ACLM) with precision attack capability against sea and land targets is the designed as the heaviest and most powerful weapon to arm Indian Air Force's Su-30 strike fighter.
Submarine launched Brahmos: Brahmos missile is capable of bring launched from submarine from a depth of 40-50 metres. The missile is launched in the same configuration similar to the ship launched system.
Brahmos-NG & Brahmos-II (Future versions of Brahmos)
- Brahmos-NG: Brahmos NG stands for Brahmos Next Generation. It is envisioned as a smaller and lighter but smarter weapon having high versatility, lethality and flexibility along with ultra-precision for deployment onboard a wide range of military platforms. Key features:
- Reduced dimension & weight for widespread range
- Advanced next generation stealth
- Greater effectiveness against ECCM
- Higher versatility in underwater combat applications
- Launch readiness from Torpedo tube and vertical orientation
- Brahmos II: It is a planned hypersonic cruise missile currently under joint development by Brahmos Aerospace. It is expected to have a range of 1,500 km and a speed of Mach 8. Since, India is now a signatory of the MTCR, Russia can transfer technologies for longer ranges.
About Brahmos Aerospace
- Brahmos Missile is manufactured by Brahmos Aerospace which is a joint venture of DRDO (India) and NPO Mashinostroyenia (Russia). The company was established in India through an Inter-Governmental Agreement between India and Russia in 1998.
- India has 50.5% ownership while Russia has 49.5% ownership in Brahmos Aerospace.
- The name 'Brahmos' is combination of Brahmaputra (India) and Moskva (Russia) rivers.
- Brahmos Aerospace is responsible for designing, developing, producing and marketing the Brahmos Supersonic cruise missiles with active participation of a consortium of Indian and Russian industries.
- Indigenization of Brahmos: In 1998, indigenous contribution in the Brahmos system was around 30% only. However, now about 75% indigenous capacity has been achieved in the Brahmos missile project.
- Exports: Brahmos missiles will be exported to the Philippines, which will its first global customer. Many countries from the Southeast Asian region have also shown interest in buying the system. Brahmos Aerospace aims to export $5 billion worth of missiles by 2025. Exports of Brahmos missiles to other countries would also allow sale and exports of other systems such as Akash, ATAGS Howitzers and other equipment from the Indian defence industry.