Jointly developed by India and Russia, the versatile BrahMos missile has been put into services by the Indian Armed Forces.
Currently, the propulsion system (engine) and airframe come from Russia while the guidance and onboard electronic module come from the guided missile programme of India’s state funded missile unit. India and Russia has been working on ways to increase the speed of the missile at hypersonic level.
The Indian Defence Ministry said that a missile featuring Indian propulsion system, airframe, power supply and other major indigenous components, was successfully test fired at 1020 hrs local time from Chandipur test facility in Odisha.
The test achieved the objective in the missile’s full range of 290-km during the launch jointly conducted by DRDO and BrahMos Aerospace.
“With this successful mission, the indigenous content in the formidable weapon has reached a high value, thus bolstering India’s defence indigenisation and the flagship ‘Make in India’ programme,” the ministry said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated team DRDO, BrahMos and Industries for the successful mission. The ministry and the BrahMos aerospace termed the successful flight test as a “landmark achievement” in enhancing India’s “Make in India” capabilities.
The missile is one of its kind which uses a combination of booster and liquid-fuelled ramjet engine which gives it super-sonic speed.
For guidance throughout the flight, BRAHMOS uses a combination of G3, namely, US’ GPS, India’s Gagan and Russian Glonass systems for accuracy.
India and Russia have been seeking to extend the range of the missile further and may test its capability of hitting a target at a distance of around 500 km.
Increasing the missile's range became possible after India's induction into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in 2016. DRDO has claimed that another version of the missile with a strike range of up to 800 km is under development.