Brahmos Missile
World’s Fastest Supersonic Cruse Missile By BrahMos Aerospace
The Brahmos missile is the fastest medium-range stealth ramjet supersonic cruise missile jointly developed by India and Russia. The BAPL (BrahMos Aerospace) is a joint venture company of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) based in India.
The Brahmos is a fire-and-forget weapon system designed to neutralize a wide range of targets with pin-point accuracy. It provides multi-platform launch capability, allowing it to be launched from aircraft, ships, submarines, or land-based vehicle-mounted mobile launchers.
The Brahmos missile is the fastest supersonic cruise missile in the world, developed in a joint venture between the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and the Russian Federation’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya, which together have formed BrahMos Aerospace.
The induction of Brahmos is a complete game changer for the Indian Armed Forces. The missile, due to its stealth features, is very difficult to track, and its Mach 3 supersonic speed leaves very little reaction time to deploy the countermeasures.
The DRDO is constantly upgrading the lethality of the missile in terms of speed, range, and stealth features. The air-launched variant of the Bhramos missile has been primarily designed for the Su-30 MKI fighter jets operated in large numbers by the Indian Air Force (IAF).
This integration of Brahmos on the Su30 MKI is already complete and has been successfully tested a number of times, hitting the targets with pin-point accuracy. The DRDO is also currently working on other lighter variants that can be integrated on single-engine fighter jets such as the HAL Tejas.
BrahMos Missile General Features
BrahMos Missile |  |
Missile Type | Supersonic Cruse Missile |
Manufactured By | BrahMos Aerospace |
Unit Weight | Land Based - 3,000 kg (6,600 lb) Air Launched - 2,500 kg (5,500 lb) BrahMos NG - 1200 kg (2600 lb) |
Missile Length | 8.4 Meters , ( 28 ft ) BrahMos NG - 6 Meters , ( 20 ft ) |
Missile Diameter | 60 cm , ( 24 inch ) BrahMOs NG - 50 cm , ( 19.2 inch ) |
Unit cost | $ 4.85 Million - Rs 34 Crores Each |
Warhead | Conventional And Nuclear |
Flight Altitude | Sea Skimming - 3 To 4 Meters |
Engine | First Stage - Solid Rocket Booster Second Stage - Liquid Ramjet |
Operational Range | 290 Km To 700 Km |
No Escape Zone | 30 Km |
Guidance System | Mid-Course : Inertial Navigation System |
Maximum Speed | Over Mach 3 |
Brahmos Missile Design Features
The missile design is based on a two-stage solid propellant booster engine. The first stage is fired first, which gives initial lift-off and takes the missile to supersonic speed before it is separated. The second stage is fired after the first stage, which takes the missile to Mach 3.
The missile design is based on the Russian P-800 Oniks supersonic anti-ship cruise missile used by the Russian navy. The DRDO has incorporated cutting-edge technology and many advanced features into the missile design. It is said to be the world’s fastest anti-ship cruise missile currently in operation.
The land-based, vehicle-mounted, and surface-launched variants of the Brahmos missile are already in service. An air-launched variant of BrahMos started testing in 2012 and entered service in 2019. However, only the Su30 MKI airframe can support the heavy weight of the missile.
The DRDO is developing a hypersonic version of the missile, BrahMos-II, with a design speed of Mach 7. The hypersonic variant will significantly boost the aerial fast-strike capability of the Indian Air Force. It is expected to be ready for testing by 2024.
BrahMos Missile Variants
The DRDO and BrahMos Aerospace are working on a number of variants of the Brahmos missile, considering the requirements of the Indian Air Force, Indian Army, and Indian Navy. The DRDO is also incorporating the latest cutting-edge technology into the future design.
The Brahmos NG is the next-generation, light-weight (1500 kg) variant of the missile. The NG variant is specially designed for single-engine fighter jets such as the HAL Tejas. Similarly, the hypersonic variant of the Brahmos is also currently under development.
BrahMos-II is a hypersonic variant of the cruise missile currently under development. It will have a range of up to 600 kilometers and a speed of Mach 8. It is going to be the fastest hypersonic missile in the world.
BrahMos Variants | Platform | Missile Details | Status | Picture |
Surface-To-Surface Variant | Ship-Launched Anti-Ship Variant | Anti-Ship Missile capable of sinking large size ships inclusing aircraft carrier. S | Operational |  |
Surface-To-Surface Variant | Ship-Launched Anti- Ship Variant | Anti-Ship Missile capable of sinking large size ships inclusing aircraft carrier. | Operational |  |
Surface-To-Surface Variant | Land-Launched Land Attack Variant | Land Attack Missile capable of distroying large size heavily fortified land targets | Operational |  |
Air-Launched Variant | Air-Launched Anti-Ship Variant | Anti-Ship Missile capable of sinking large size ships inclusing aircraft carrier. | Operational |  |
Air-Launched Variant | Air-Launched Land Attack Variant | Land Attack Missile capable of distroying large size heavily fortified land targets | Operational |  |
Submarine-Launched Variant | Submarine-Launched Anti Ship And Land Attack Variant | Anti Ship And Land Attack Missile capable of distroying large size Ships And heavily fortified land targets | Operational |  |
Air-Launched Variant Brahmos NG | Air-Launched Land Attack Variant | Light Weight Variant For Anti Ship And Land Attack Missile Specially Designed For HAL Tejas And Other Single Engine Fighter Aircrafts. | Under Development |  |
Brahmos Hypersonic | Air-Launched Anti Ship And Land Attack Variant | First Hypersonic Variant of Brahmos For Anti Ship And Land Attack Missile Specially Designed wide range of launch platforms. | Under Development |  |