BrahMos The Ultimate Weapon Of India

The BrahMos is one of the ultimate missiles which India has right now. The BrahMos was made by The BrahMos Aerospace Trivandrum Ltd (BALT). The BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture organization between Russia and India. Russian Federation's NPO Mashinostroyeniya and India's Defence Research Development Organization DRDO, came together to join hands. The BrahMos is a medium ranged, ramjet supersonic cruise missile. It can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land.

BrahMos Missile In Display During Republic Day

Introduction To BrahMos:

BrahMos Name: 

The BrahMos was made by a jointly formed venture of India and Russia. The BrahMos name was contributed by combining the names of the two major rivers Brahmaputra of India and Moskva of Russia.

Overview: 

The BrahMos is the world's fastest anti-ship cruise missile in operation. The cruise speed of the missile is up to Mach 2.8 to 3.0. The speed is further being upgraded to Mach 5.0. The land launched and the ship launched missiles are already in service. The air-launched and ship-launched variant are in testing mode. The BrahMos Aerospace limited is also working on a hypersonic version of the missile which will be known as BrahMos 2. The speed of BrahMos 2 will be around Mach 7.0 to 8.0.

The BrahMos 2 will be ready for testing by 2020.

BrahMos Missiles

Emergence Of BrahMos:

The BrahMos Aerospace Limited is a joint venture of India and Russia. India's Defence Research And Development Organization joined hands with the Federal State Unitary Enterprise NPO Mashinostroyeniya of Russia to develop a mid-air cruise missile. The BrahMos Aerospace Limited was established in the year 1998. The company was launched via mutual agreement of both the governments. The share of India in the venture is 50.5% and that of Russia is 49.5%.

The first BrahMos was wired in the year 2001 from ITR(Integrated Test Range) Chandipur. After that, the missile has gone through several tests from different platforms. The land testing and the ship testing of the missile were a success. The air launching and the submarine launching are still under test process.

The BrahMos Aerospace Trivandrum Limited has its working unit set up at Trivandrum, Kerala. The facility is used to make BrahMos component as well as integrated missile systems. Till now, 14.5 billion Indian rupees have been invested in the facility to develop the missile products. The BrahMos is used both by Indian Navy and Indian Army.

BrahMos Sea-Sea Variant

Evolution Of BrahMos:

Land-Launched Variant: 

The first land-launched variant of the BrahMos was tested in the year 1998 at the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur. The testing was done in a vertical launched configuration. In the year 2004, the BrahMos was tested again. This time it was launched from a mobile launcher. It was in the year 2005 when the missile was tested for the purpose of destruction. It was launched from INS Rajput with the aim to destroy a particular target among a series of targets. In the year January 2009, in the course of testing the BrahMos with a new navigation system resulted in failure. The director of BALT told that the hardware of the missile was fine but the glitch was there in the software. He said the missile cruised for more time than expected and fell 7 km short of the target. The glitches were worked upon. The missile was again tested in March 2009 which was a success. The missile was victorious in hitting the intended target.

The BrahMos became the fastest anti-ship cruise missile in the year 2010. It created a world record of a missile to be tested in a supersonic speed. The BrahMos is the only missile technology which can target its particular target from a cluster.

Submarine-Launched Variant:

The BrahMos missile can also be fired from a submerged platform as well. In the year 2013 BrahMos was tested in a submerged pontoon. The BrahMos underwater launch was done in Visakhapatnam. The missile can be launched at a depth of 130ft or 50m. Russia in a statement has said that the future made Submarines of India will be armed with BrahMos. The missile would be in the form of a torpedo.

Air-Surface Variant:

The air to surface variant of the missile is known as BrahMos-A. The air-surface BrahMos range is 400 km. The weapon can be launched from Sukhoi Su-30MKI. Many modifications have been done to reduce the weight of the missile. The missile is added with fins for stability in air. It has also installed with a smaller booster. The BrahMos-A can be instigated from a height of 500 to  14,000 m. BrahMos Aerospace has provided the missile to the Indian Air Force in the year 2015. In the present situation, a Sukhoi Su-30MKI can carry only one missile.

Modifications are still underway to make the missile more efficient and powerful.

BrahMos-A Missile

Extended Development Of Brahmos:

BrahMos 2: 

The BrahMos 2 or BrahMos-II is a missile under development phase. It is a hypersonic cruise missile with a speed of up to Mach 7.0 to 8.0. The BrahMos-2 range will be around 290 km. If the missile is tested successfully it will be the fastest hypersonic missile in the world. The test is scheduled to be conducted in the year 2020. 

 BrahMos NG:

The BrahMos Next Generation is a miniature version of the existing BrahMos missile. The variant will have a weight of up to 1.5 tons. The range will be the same as that of the existing version 290 km. The speed of the variant will be Mach 3.5. The radar cross section of this version will be less. The launching methods will remain the same as that of its predecessor. In the initial years, the BrahMos NG was known as BrahMos M. The missile can be launched form Sukhoi Su-30MKI, HAL Tejas, MiG-29K.

BrahMos NG (Next Generation) Missile

Specifications Of BrahMos:

• BrahMos Weight: 3,000kg of land variant and 2,500 kg for air variant
• BrahMos Speed: Mach 2.8 to Mach 3.0 (3,400km/h)
• Body Structure: Length 8.4 m, Diameter 0.6 m.
• Propulsion System: First Stage: Solid fuel rocket booster, Second Stage: Liquid-fueled ramjet.
• Service Ceiling: 14 km
• BrahMos Range: Surface Variant: 450 km, Air Variant: 400 km.
• Warhead: 200 kg conventional, 300 kg nuclear.
• BrahMos Unit Cost: US $ 2.73 million

BrahMos is one of its kind. This is the reason why BrahMos is the Ultimate Weapon Of India.