Brahmos Missile

• The Cabinet Committee on Security has cleared the acquisition of 220 BrahMos extended-range supersonic cruise missiles for deployment on Indian Navy
  • The BrahMos is the main weapon for anti-ship and attack operations for the Indian navy warships.
  • The extended-range BrahMos is speculated to have an extended range of around 800 km.
• The deal worth around ₹19,000 crore will be signed between the BrahMos Aerospace and Ministry of Defence.

ABOUT BRAHMOS

• The BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture of India and Russia.
• It produces supersonic cruise missiles that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land platforms.
• BRAHMOS is a two-stage missile with-
  • a solid propellant booster engine as its first stage which brings it to supersonic speed and then gets separated.
  • The liquid ramjet or the second stage then takes the missile closer to 3 Mach speed in cruise phase.
• Its cruising altitude could be up to 15 km and terminal altitude is as low as 10 meters.
• The BrahMos missile is also set to be exported soon to the Philippines which is its first global customer.
• Features
  • Universal for multiple platforms
  • “Fire and Forget” principle of operation
  • High supersonic speed all through the flight
  • Long flight range with varieties of flight trajectories
  • Low radar signature
  • Shorter flight times leading to lower target dispersion and quicker engagement
  • Pin point accuracy with high lethal power aided by large kinetic energy on impact