BrahMos

Why in news?

• An extended range sea-to-sea variant of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was test fired from the recently commissioned stealth guided missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam.

About BrahMos:

• BrahMos is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarine, ships, aircraft, or land.
• It is the fastest supersonic cruise missile in the world.
• It has two stages
  • First stage comprising of a solid fuel rocket booster and
  • Second stage comprising a liquid-fueled ramjet.

Range and capabilities:

• The missile travels at speeds of Mach 2.8 to 3.0, which is being upgraded to Mach 5.0.
• A hypersonic version of the missile, BrahMos-II, is also presently under development with a speed of Mach 7-8 to boost aerial fast strike capability.
• The ship-launched and land-based missiles can carry a 200 kg warhead, whereas the aircraft-launched variant (BrahMos A) can carry a 300 kg warhead.
• It originally had a range of 290 km which is now being extended to 450 km and to 600km at a later stage after India became a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime.

Development:

• BrahMos is a joint venture between the Russia and India's DRDO.
• The name BrahMos comes from the two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.

Add ons:

• INS Visakhapatnam, with a displacement of 7,400 tonnes, is the first of four ingenuously designed and built Project-15B class stealth guided missile destroyers and was commissioned in November 2021.

PRACTICE QUESTION

Which of the following statements is not correct regarding BrahMos missile?

(a) It can travel faster than sound

(b) It can be launched from submarine, ships, aircraft, or land.

(c) It is a joint venture between the France and India

(d) It originally had a range of 290 km

Answer