– By Vinayak Barot
NEW DELHI, Sep 18: India and Russia have jointly launched a project to develop a new version of the “BrahMos” cruise missile strong enough to target radio detection and destroy aircrafts with the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) as part of the continuous efforts of the two countries to work for improving the defence and strategic relations.
The air-to-air missile system is expected to be ready by 2024. Existing versions of the BrahMos are designed to engage land and sea targets. However, the tests of several modifications of the Russian-Indian cruise missile with an extended range are planned for the end of the current year, Russian sources said.
The earlier version of the BrahMos, BrahMos-A air-launched cruise missile, successfully passed certification in India and on June 10, the BrahMos supersonic air-launched cruise missile received the first use permit issued by the Indian certification Agency Centre for Military Airworthiness & Certification (CEMILAC).
CEMILAC is a laboratory of the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Located in Bangalore, its primary function is certification and qualification of military aircraft and airborne systems.
The Brahmos missile PJ-10 is a medium range ramjet supersonic cruise missile and it can be launched from Submarine, Land, Ships or Aircraft. As per the defence expert, Brahmos is the fastest supersonic cruise missile in the world.
The Director of the Russian-Indian joint venture BrahMos, Alexander Maksichev said “The Russian-Indian joint venture BrahMos was established in 1998, with the participation of the Russian NPO Mashinostroyeniya and the defence research and development Organization (DRDO) of the Ministry of Defense of India.”
“Thus, we are expanding the range of targets for BrahMos missiles, and in a few years it will be able to destroy air targets as well. That is, the platform will remain the same only with some modernization, but it will have different ‘brains,’ that is, a different homing head for destroying a radar, that is, a contrast target.” Maksichev added
According to defence experts, BrahMos with its Mach 2.5-2.8 speed, is one of the world’s fastest cruise missiles, about three and a half times faster than the American subsonic Harpoon cruise missile. The experts said the new version of the Brahmos would also put India ahead of China in the field.