BrahMos Testing | 01 Oct 2020
Why in News
BrahMos Land-Attack Cruise Missile (surface-to-surface) was successfully flight tested from the Integrated Test Range at Balasore in Odisha.
Key Points
- It is a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation of India (DRDO) and the NPOM of Russia.
- Brahmos is named on the rivers Brahmaputra (India) and Moskva (Russia).
- It is a supersonic missile travelling at a speed of Mach 2.8 (nearly three times the speed of sound)
- It is the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile.
- It is a multiplatform i.e it can be launched from land, air, and sea and multi capability missile with pinpoint accuracy that works in both day and night irrespective of the weather conditions.
- It is, therefore, used by all three forces, the Army, Navy and the Air Force.
- It operates on the "Fire and Forget" principle i.e it does not require further guidance after launch.
- It is the heaviest weapon to be deployed on Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft, with a weight of 2.5 tonnes.
- Its range has been recently enhanced from 300 Km to 450-600 Km,
- Increasing the missile’s range became possible after India’s induction into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in June 2016.
- The missile features indigenous Booster and Airframe Section, along with many other indigenous sub-systems.
- Advantages:
- BrahMos has been deployed in Ladakh as well as the Eastern Sector in Arunachal Pradesh to tackle any threats in the ongoing standoff with China.
- Enhanced use of indigenous technologies will give a boost to India’s AtmaNirbhar Bharat and Make in India Initiatives.
- Increasing indigenous content in defence systems has also been a prime focus of Defence Acquisition Procedure, 2020 and draft Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy 2020.
- Others:
- India is also working on a hypersonic missile, BrahMos-II (K), capable of taking out hardened targets such as underground bunkers and weapon storage facilities at seven times the speed of sound (Mach 7).