India successfully test-fires air version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile

• Air version of supersonic cruise missile ‘BrahMos’ was successfully test fired from supersonic fighter jet Sukhoi 30 MK-I from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur in Odisha.
• The missile launched from Sukhoi 30 MK-I followed the pre-planned trajectory, meeting all targeted objectives.

BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile

• A amalgamation of the names of Brahmaputra river and Moskva rivers, BrahMos missiles are designed, developed and produced by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture company set up by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Mashinostroyenia of Russia.
• Multiple versions of the supersonic cruise missile, including those which can be fired from land, warships, submarines and Sukhoi-30 fighter jets have already been developed and successfully tested earlier.
• The ship-launched version of BrahMos and land-based system are in service of the Indian Navy and the Indian Army since 2005 and 2007 respectively.
• Later, the air launched version Brahmos was successfully flight-tested for the first time from the IAF frontline fighter aircraft Sukhoi-30MKI against a sea-based target in the Bay of Bengal on November 22, 2017.
• The BrahMos is a medium-range supersonic missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land-based platforms. It is considered to be the fastest supersonic missile in the world that can achieve a speed 2.8 times the speed of sound.
• The land attack version of BrahMos has the capability of cruising at 2.8 Mach speed and with the upgraded capability, the missile can hit targets at a range of upto 400 kilometers with precision.
• Advanced versions of range above 1,000 kilometers and speed upto 5 Mach are said to be under development.
• Established in 1998, BrahMos Aerospace, specializes in producing cruise missiles and supporting equipment, such as launchers and missile guidance systems.

Major milestone in BrahMos development

• The launch of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile is a major achievement in the BrahMos development as the development has cleared the system for the serial production of air-version BrahMos missiles within India.
• Notably, major airframe assemblies which comprise the integral part of the Ramjet Engine are indigenously developed by Indian Industry.
• These integral parts include metallic and non-metallic air frame sections consisting Ramjet fuel tank and pneumatic fuel supply system.
• During the test, the structural integrity and functional performance have been proven.