SUPERSONIC DESTROYER

The BrahMos programme has filled a critical gap in the Indian armed forces' missile inventory and continues to attract strong export interest, writes ATUL CHANDRA.

- ATUL CHANDRA

The BrahMos Mach 3 capable supersonic cruise missile is one of the most successful joint developments in the Indian missile sphere, which has delivered on the requirements of all three services. The joint venture between the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyeniya (NPOM), known as BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited (BAPL), is now in its 26th year and continues to grow from strength to strength. The supersonic cruise missile is today widely deployed with the Indian Armed Forces, having validated its capability to neutralise highvalue, heavily fortified ground and seabased enemy targets from land, sea and air platforms.

According to BAPL, the BrahMos missile supersedes the most popular subsonic missiles in the world in terms of velocity (by 3 times), flight range (by 2.5-3 times), seeker range (by 3 - 4 times) and kill energy by nine times. The BrahMos can carry a conventional warhead weighing 200-300 kg, depending on its configuration. The multi-role BrahMos has been operationalised in land-to-land, land-to-sea, sea-to-coast, coast-to-sea, air-to-land and air-to-sea configurations. Today, the Indian Army is the only land force in the world to have operationalised a supersonic cruise missile system. For the Navy, anti-ship and land-attack variants of BrahMos, now deployed on frontline Indian naval warships, have enormously increased India's maritime strike capability in littoral and high sea environments.