A couple of days after the successful test firing of Dhanush missile from a naval ship, Indian Navy on Sunday achieved another success with the test-firing of supersonic cruise missile BrahMos from a warship off the Goa coast.
With the successful test India has become the first and only country in the world to have a ‘maneuverable’ supersonic cruise missile in its inventory. The missile was test launched in full operational configuration from guided missile frigate INS Teg at about 7 am. It was the first test from Russian warship INS Teg inducted in Indian Navy on April 27.
This test was significant as the last trial of BrahMos land version on July 29 from a test range off the Odisha coast had ended with failures. Defence sources said performing high-level manoeuvres, BrahMos hit a free-floating ship piercing it above the waterline and destroying it completely.
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited A Sivathanu Pillai said the trial was successful as it had met all mission requirements. “The missile performed supersonic maneuvering following the exact flight path and homed on to the decommissioned target ship INS Meen. It was a perfect mission,” he said in a release.
BrahMos missile has three versions – land, ship and air. All are designed to be able to attack surface targets from a low altitude of 10 meters, at a speed of 2.8 Mach, from a range of 290 km. The missile can be launched either in vertical or inclined position and has the potential to cover 360 degree range of the ship.
Jointly developed by India’s defence research and development organization (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyenia, the BrahMos missile is capable of carrying conventional warheads up to 300 kg. The two-stage missile is about nine metres tall and weighs 3.9 tonnes with the canister.
The Indian navy has begun inducting the first version of BrahMos missile in all its frontline warship from 2005. The navy had earlier carried out its several tests but most of them had been done from inclined launchers abroad INS Rajput. On December 18, 2008 the first vertical launch of the supersonic cruise missile took place from the INS Ranvir platform and it’s second lunch was on March 21, 2010.
The missile will utilize a variety of flight trajectories, integrating high and low profile optimizing range and detectability. Its high cruise and terminal speed is posing a significant challenge for the attacked target, as it leaves less time for deployment of countermeasures. It is the only supersonic cruise missile in the world, which can surprise the enemy with its speed, power and precision. It has no equivalent.
Defence sources said INS Teg had been built as part of a contract signed between India and Russia in July, 2006. Two other frigates of Talwar class – INS Tarkash and INS Trikand are being built at Russia’s Yantar shipyard for the Indian Navy. All the three ships will be equipped with eight vertical launched BrahMos missile systems.
Sources further added that the scientists were working to develop other versions of the missile including the air variant and anti-ship version. It has been planned to test the missile from an underwater-based platform. Multifunctional Su-30MKIs and patrol planes IL-38 would be equipped with the air version of BrahMos missile.