BrahMos

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The BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. It is a joint venture between Russia's Mashinostreyenia, and India's Brahmos Corp. Propulsion is based on the Russian Yakhont missile, while guidance is developed by Brahmos corp., established in India is a joint venture between India and Russia. BrahMos is currently one of the few supersonic cruise missiles in the world and at speeds of 2.5 to 2.8 Mach is about 3 times faster than the subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile.

The missile has been developed as a joint venture between the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) from India and the Federal State Unitary Enterprise NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM) (Russia) under BrahMos Aerospace. The missile gets its name from two great rivers: Brahmaputra and Moskva. India and Russia intend to make 1,000 BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles over the next ten years through their joint venture company, and nearly 50 percent of them are expected to be sold to other countries.<ref>http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/07/21/thousandmissiles.shtml</ref>

BrahMos is designed to be able to attack surface targets at as low an altitude as 10 meters and a speed of Mach 2.8, with a maximum range of 290 km^[1]. The ship-launched and land-based missiles have a 200 kg warhead, while the aircraft-launched variant (BrahMos A) has a 300 kg one. It has a two-stage propulsion system, with a solid-propellant rocket for initial acceleration and a liquid-fuelled ramjet responsible for sustained supersonic cruise. Air-breathing ramjet propulsion is much more fuel-efficient than rocket propulsion, giving the BrahMos a longer range than a pure rocket-powered missile would achieve.

The high rate of speed of this missile gives it a capability for higher kinetic energy damage versus that of slower cruise missiles such as the Tomahawk.

Although BrahMos is an anti-ship missile, it has the capability to engage land based targets. The missile can be launched either in a vertical or inclined position and is capable of covering targets over a 360 degree horizon. The BrahMos missile has identical configuration for land, sea and subsea platforms. The air-launched version has a smaller booster and additional tail fins for added stability during launch. The missile is currently being configured for aerial version with Su-30MKI as its carrier.

[edit] Technical specifications

Length 8.4 m
Diameter 60 cm
Launch Weight 3.000 kg
Warhead 300 kg conventional semi-armour piercing warhead
Range 290 km
Propulsion Two-stage integrated rocket/ramjet concept

[edit] Notes

↑ The publicised maximum range was determined partly by Russia and India's desire to avoid a perceived breach of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which restricts technology transfer relating to missiles with a range longer than 300 km, and other proliferation rules even though India is not a signatory to the said treaty. See the information from GlobalSecurity.org referred to in the external links, below.