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The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully test-fired the BrahMos surface-to-surface cruise missile with an indigenous booster and air frame sector, along with other subsystems made within the country. The supersonic missile is one of the prime precision-strike missiles used by all three forces, the Army, Navy and the Air Force.
Features of Brahmos Missile
- BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile being developed by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between DRDO of India and NPO Mashinostroeyenia (NPOM) of Russia. The missile is named after two rivers, the Brahmaputra in India and the Moskva in Russia.
- BrahMos has a flight range of up to 290km and can reach a maximum speed of Mach 3.
- The missile can be installed on ships, submarines, aircraft and ground vehicles.
- The ‘Fire and Forget’ type missile weighs 3 tonnes and intercepts surface targets at an altitude of 10m up to 14,000m.
- The BrahMos missiles can carry a conventional semi armour piercing warhead of 200kg, while the aerial variant can carry a 300kg warhead.
- BrahMos is powered by a two-stage propulsion system. Initial acceleration is provided by a solid-propellant booster and supersonic cruise speed is provided by a liquid-fuelled ramjet system.
- In February 1998, India and Russia signed an inter-governmental agreement to establish BrahMos Aerospace for producing the BrahMos missiles. The first BrahMos missile was test fired from the integrated test range at Chandipur in Orissa Coast in June 2001.
Source: Indian Express
