New Delhi: The test of a supersonic cruise missile – BrahMos- had time and again proved India’s defense capabilities. As slated, the BrahMos, a supersonic cruise missile was put to test flight successfully this morning. The test area selected was Pokhran test range.
The speed of the missile is almost three times the speed of sound at Mach 2.8 and can strike within a range of 290 km.
The BrahMos missile is a Indo-Russia joint ventue and the range can be extended up to 400 km after India was relieved of some technical restrictions as it became a full member of the Missile Technology Control Regime or MTCR in the year 2016.
Along with that, work is going on in order to integrate the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile on 40 Sukhoi combat aircraft. If the integration is done, we can expect it to fulfill the current needs of Indian Air Force in the wake of evolving security dynamics in the region.
Indian Navy and Army have already inducted the BrahMos from 2006 onwards, but the fresh version is more versatile than the previous ones due to the reason that unlike warships that move very slowly, Sukhoi-30 is a fast moving fighter jet and can travel at the speed of at least 1,500 km for a given target before the missile is fired. And then the missile can further take on the target by travelling at least 400 km.
If the combination of the Su-30 and BrahMos missile works successfully, then that means Indian Air Force can deliver a punch to the assigned target within minutes. This action will prove to more quicker than a warship which needs to sail in the direction of the given target directly into the sea.
The BrahMos is a joint venture between the collaborating countries Russia and India. The name itself signifies the partnership as the part of the name ‘Brah’ denotes Brahmaputra river and other part ‘Mos’ is for Moskva river of Russia.
The BrahMos’ air-launched variant is termed as the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile. This missile was successfully test fired from the fighter jet Sukhoi-30 on November 22, marking an accomplishment to enhance the precision strike capability of the air force.
The project is slated to be completed by the year 2020.
The program includes structural modifications of 40 Sukhoi jets at the state-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd or better known as HAL and at the end BrahMos needs to be integrated to the fighter jet structure.
BrahMos is considered to be the heaviest weapon to be deployed on the fighter jet Su-30.
As soon as the project is complete by integrating the combat fleet with BrahMos, Indian Air Force will gain the capability to strike from large stand-off ranges on a given target either in sea or land.