Context: India successfully conducted separate trials of two variants of supersonic cruise missile BrahMos to check its capability to hit targets with precision and accuracy,
- 2 variants recently tested include- land-attack version of the missile, air force variant
- The BrahMos missile is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile capable of being launched from submarines, warships, fighter jets or land.
- The 2.5-tonne missile has a strike range of nearly 300 kilometres.
- Capable of traveling at speeds of Mach 3.0, the Brahmos is the fastest cruise missile in the world
- It operates on the “Fire and Forgets” principle i.e it does not require further guidance after launch.
- It is a two-stage (solid propellant engine in the first stage and liquid ramjet in second) air to surface missile with a flight range of around 300 km.However, India’s entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) has extended the range of the BRAHMOS missile to reach 450 km-600km,
- The first extended version of the missile with a strike range of 450 km was successfully tested in 2017
- A shorter range land-attack version of the BrahMos was earlier successfully test-fired in 2019
- BrahMos is a joint venture of the DRDO of India and the NPOM of Russia.Brahmos is named on the rivers Brahmaputra and Moskva
- The missile is operational with the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force
- Indias Su-30 jets are now armed with nuclear Brahmos cruice missile
