The export director made the statement concerning the most up-to-date model of the BrahMos missile during the International Maritime Defense Show in St Petersburg last week. It is anticipated that the 6-metre, 1.5-ton BrahMos-NG will be ready for introduction into service next year.

The BrahMos-NG (Next Generation) will be a scaled-down version of the already existing missile. It will maintain the same range and velocity of the existing model, but will have a drastically reduced weight and size, with a length of only 6 metres compared to the current 9 metres.

The introduction of the BrahMos has been received in New Delhi with enthusiasm as it is supposed to significantly advance the missile capabilities of the nation’s security forces.

Revisiting the incredible tale of the ‘world’s fastest supersonic missile’:

In 1998, India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya collaborated to create BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture that manufactures the BrahMos missile. The eponym of the renowned missile comes from the merging of India’s Brahmaputra and Russia’s Moskva rivers. BrahMos Aerospace advertises their latest weapon as the fastest supersonic cruise missile which can be fired from land, air, sea or underwater vessel. This missile can travel up to a range of 290 kilometres at a rapid rate of 2.8 Mach, which is equivalent to three times the speed at which sound travels

There are three models of the BrahMos missile—surface-to-surface, air and submarine variants.

For its inaugural trial, the BrahMos surface-to-surface model was tested at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, in Balasore district of Odisha, in eastern India. Subsequently, the missile underwent multiple assessments prior to being inducted into the Indian Army in 2007.

In 2009, BrahMos was updated with a navigation system and a trial launch was conducted that year. In the following year, BrahMos made its mark in the annals of history by becoming the first cruise missile to reach supersonic speeds while in steep-dive mode. In the ninth month of 2020, India conducted a trial of a longer range version of the BrahMos surface-to-surface missile, which increased its range from 290 km to 350 km.

In 2013, the vertical launch of an Indian-manufactured supersonic cruise missile from a submerged position was successfully tested in the Bay of Bengal. This was the first time that BrahMos’s submarine-launched model was used. It can be deployed from depths as deep as 40-50 metres underwater.

The naval (ship-launched) version of the missile had been inducted into India’s maritime force back in 2005, prior to the other version. At present, the Indian Navy relies heavily on its current arsenal of conventional missiles.

BrahMos Aerospace has designed and developed the BrahMos ALCM (Air-launched Cruise Missile) with pinpoint accuracy for land and sea targets to be used on the Indian Air Force’s frontline fighter, the Sukhoi-30MKI. Currently, the Su-30MKI makes up the mainstay of India’s fighter jet armada.

In 2017, a Sukhoi-30MKI aircraft conducted the inaugural flight-test of the air-launched rendition of the missile, which successfully struck its goal in the Bay of Bengal. In December 2022, the Indian Air Force conducted successful tests of an extended version of the missile, which had an approximate range of 450 km.

The manufacturer Of BrahMos-II is currently in the process of constructing a variant of the missile with extended range. It is predicted that this upgraded version of the missile will extend its reach to an estimated 600 km. In addition, it is estimated that the speed will reach Mach 8, making it the fastest hypersonic missile in the world. This would give India’s three Services a powerful tool to effectively attack deep into the enemy lines and precisely target objects. (IPA Service)