Naval variant of BrahMos supersonic missile test-fired

• An extended range sea-to-sea variant of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successfully test-fired by India from the Indian Navy’s newly commissioned INS Visakhapatnam on Tuesday, the Defence Research and Development Organisation said

About Brahmos supersonic missile

• It was launched in 2001
• It is a two-stage missile with a solid propellant booster engine as its first stage which brings it to supersonic speed and then gets separated
• The liquid ramjet or the second stage then takes the missile closer to 3 Mach speed in cruise phase
• Stealth technology and guidance system with advanced embedded software provides the missile with special features
• The missile has a flight range of up to 290-km with supersonic speed all through the flight.
• It operates on ‘Fire and Forget Principle’, adopting varieties of flights on its way to the target.
• It is a multi-platform and multi-role supersonic missile which can be launched against the sea, air as well as land targets and has also been deployed in all three arms of the Indian Armed Forces
• It has been successfully launched from various ships of the Indian Navy, Sukhoi-30MKI aircraft as well as mobile autonomous launchers
• These are designed and developed by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture company set up by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Mashinostroyenia of Russia
• The missile can be launched from ships, submarines, land or from an aircraft.

About new variant

• It is extended range sea-to-sea variant of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile
• It is successfully test-fired by India from the Indian Navy’s newly commissioned INS Visakhapatnam
• It has the capability to hit sea-based targets beyond radar horizon
• It has been designed to launch either in a vertical or a horizontal mode from moving/stationary assets to target both land and sea targets
• It has a speed of 2.8 Mach which nearly three times the speed of sound
• It significantly increase the capability of the ships in engaging long-range targets