BrahMos creates a record

Defence scientists created a world record on Sunday by flight testing the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos from off the Orissa coast. It was for the first time that a cruise missile was tested at supersonic speeds in a steep-dive mode. The missile was test-fired from the launching complex-3 (LC-3) of the integrated test range (ITR) at Chandipur around 11.35 am. Defence sources said the missile was tested by the armed forces from a mobile autonomous launcher. “The missile took off successfully and hit the desired target, meeting all mission parameters. It was a fantastic launch; a 100 per cent success,” said ITR director SP Dash. A scientist, who witnessed the test said, the missile test fired this time was the advanced version of BrahMos Block-II. “The missile flew in the designated complex trajectory including large manoeuvres and steep dive. This is the first time that a supersonic dive has been realised by a cruise missile,” he said. With this launch, the army’s requirement for land attacks with block-II advanced seeker software with target discriminating capabilities has been fully met. This version is ready for induction. The missile, which derives its name from the Brahmaputra and Moskova rivers, was developed by an Indo-Russian joint venture after the two countries signed an agreement in February 1998. The 8.4-meter-long missile can hit a target at a distance up to 290 km. The missile can travel at three times the speed of sound and carry a conventional warhead weighing 200 kg to 300 kg. The BrahMos Block-II variant has been developed to take out a specific small target, with a low radar cross-section, in a multi-target environment. It can potentially be used for surgical strikes, including at terror camps, without causing collateral damage. The block-II version capabilities to hit precisely a small target in a cluster of larger targets were demonstrated from Pokhran. This new capability has made it even more lethal. The cruise missile is capable of being launched from multiple platforms based on land, ship, sub-marines and air, and currently the focus in on for the development of its air-launched and the submarine-launched versions.