Indian Army on 7 November 2015 successfully test-fired the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile at the Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan. It was launched from an Autonomous Mobile Launcher (AML).
This was the 50th Test-flight of BrahMos. The previous test-firing was from INS Kochi off the west coast on 1 November 2015.
About BrahMos
- BrahMos is the first supersonic cruise missile known to be in service and is capable of carrying a conventional and nuclear warhead of 300 kilogram.
- The name BrahMos is formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.
- It is a two-stage missile having Solid propellant in the first stage and Ramjet liquid propellant in the second stage.
- It can be launched from land, Sea, Sub-seas and air.
- It operates on Fire and Forget Principle by adopting varieties of flights on its way to the target.
- It approaches the enemy target with a top speed of Mach 2.8; which is about three times faster than the US subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile.
- The missile has been developed by the BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited. It is a joint venture between Russian Federation’s NPO Mashinostroeyenia and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
- While the navy and army versions of the missile were inducted in 2005 and 2007 respectively, the air version is still in the testing stage.
