Advanced BrahMos missile test fired

The Army on Friday test-fired an advanced version of the BrahMos supersonic missile, which is meant to be ‘a precision-strike weapon’, towards fully-operationalising its LACM (land-attack cruise missile) regiments. The BrahMos training-trial from a mobile autonomous launcher at Pokhran firing ranges was handled by the Army, without the help of scientists. “It met all mission parameters. It was the 25th test of the missile,” said a senior officer. Both the 290-km BrahMos and the 150-km Prahaar missile, which was tested for the first time on July 21, are supposed to be highly-mobile, allweather ‘battlefield support missile systems’ for accurate and concentrated fire assaults at enemy targets. They give some much-needed teeth to the Army's ‘pro-active conventional war strategy’, loosely called the ‘Cold Start’ doctrine, which revolves around multiple armoured thrusts by self-contained ‘battle groups’ across the border. The aim is to punish Pakistan in a limited manner -- not occupy it -- if required. Both BrahMos and Prahaar are meant to carry only 200 to 250-kg conventional warheads but Pakistan has taken to brandishing its 60-km Nasr (Hatf-IX) and 500-km Babur LACM as nuclear weapons as a counter to the ‘Cold Start’ strategy. While Prahaar will take some time to become operational, the Army has already inducted the air-breathing BrahMos, which flies at speeds up to 2.8 Mach. Having already placed orders worth Rs 9,484 crore, the Army is looking to induct three versions of the multi-role BrahMos over the next couple of years. Navy and IAF have ordered BrahMos missiles worth Rs 3,568 crore and Rs 1,295 crore, respectively.