BrahMos Missiles Successfully Test-fired from land and air platforms
India, recently conducted two separate trials of its supersonic cruise missile BrahMos, one each from land and air platforms near Balasore, Odisha in order to check its capability to hit targets with accuracy and precision.
The test fires were conducted jointly by Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Indian Air Force (IAF) and BrahMos. AS per the Defence sources, while a land-attack version of the missile was test- launched from the Launch Pad -3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur and an Air Force variant of the missile was fired from an IAF Fighter jet over Bay of Bengal.
During the tests, the missile was gravity dropped from air combat platform’s fuselage and two-staged weapons engine fired up and the missile straightaway propelled towards the intended target positioned at sea.
Earlier on May 22, 2019, IAF had successfully tested the missile against a land-based target in the Car Nicobar region. The BrahMos Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) promises to bolster the air combat capability of IAF from stand-off ranges.
About BrahMos Missiles
The BrahMos missile is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile capable of being launched from submarines, warships, fighter jets or land. It weighs around 2.5 tonne with a strike range of nearly 300 km. It is a joint venture between DRDO of India and NPOM of Russia.
It is the world’s fastest anti-ship cruise missile in operation. The land-launched and ship-launched versions are already in service, with the air and submarine-launched versions currently in the testing phase. An air-launched variant of BrahMos appeared in 2012. 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. It is expected to be ready for testing by 2020.
The missile has established itself as the major force multiplier in modern warfare with its land- attack and anti-ship capabilities with multi-role and multi-platform abilities.
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