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Defence & Security
Mahesh

07/03/24 09:06 AM IST

Indian Navy’s new BrahMos deal and missile indigenisation

In News
  • The MoD had signed a ₹1,700-crore deal with BrahMos Aerospace for procuring long range missiles and maritime mobile coastal batteries for the Indian Navy.
New BrahMos missile
  • The latest acquisition cleared by the Cabinet is of the BrahMos Extended Range supersonic cruise missile (BRAHMOS- ER).
  • While the base version of this missile (BRAHMOS) had a range of 290 km, which was later extended to 400 km, the new version is reportedly capable of striking targets at a distance 800-900 km away from the ship it is mounted on.
  • The Navy has not, however, specified a precise strike capability.
  • The BRAHMOS-ER missile is a two-stage missile with a solid propellent booster as its first stage and a liquid-fuel fired ramjet engine as its second stage, which powers the missile beyond supersonic speed.
  • As per the last test-firing of the missile by the Indian Navy it clocked a speed of 2.8 Mach (almost three times the speed of sound)
  • Operating on the ‘fire and forget’ principle — the missile can hit the target without external intervention after its launch — the BRAHMOS-ER is designed for long flight with a variety of trajectories and is said to hit its target with pinpoint accuracy and power with large kinetic energy on impact.
Features
  • Carrying a conventional warhead of 200-300 kgs, the BRAHMOS-ER, like its predecessor, has a cruising altitude of up to 15 km, and can also go as low as 10 metres.
  • As it has a low radar signature and travels at supersonic speeds, it reportedly cannot be intercepted by any known weapons system till date.
  • The missile can be launched from sea, land or air, and the base version missile has been a part of the Indian Navy’s arsenal since 2005, the Army’s since 2007 and the Air Force’s since 2020.
  • The Navy has the BRAHMOS missile in both inclined and vertical launch configurations in its ship-based weapon complex while the Army has the missile’s vertical launch configuration for mobile autonomous launchers.
  • The Air Force, which has newly inducted these missiles, has integrated them on its Su-30MKI fighter aircraft.
  • As per reports, extended range surface-launched versions of the missile cost $4.85 million, while the ship-based extended range missile costs approximately $11 million.
  • The main difference between BRAHMOS and BRAHMOS-ER is the enhanced range and indigenisation of several components of the missile.
  • The BRAHMOS missile’s range was capped at 290 km to avoid violation of the norms set by the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).
  • The MTCR, a political understanding between 35 countries to limit proliferation of missiles and missile technology, does not allow its members to transfer or aid non-members to build missiles with a range higher than 300 km.
  • After India joined the MTCR In 2016, the BRAHMOS-ER missile was developed with a range of 450 km and later 600 km.
  • The extended range missile also has a Defence Research and Development Organisation-designed indigenous seeker and booster.
History
  • Founded in 1998, BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s military industrial consortium, NPO Machinostroyenia (NPOM).
  • With an initial capital of $250 million, India holds a 50.5% stake in the venture.
  • while Russia holds a 49.5% share. The missile itself is derived from the Russian P-800 Oniks or Yakhont missile which was first tested in the 1990s.
  • The first successful test of the BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile, capable of travelling 290km, took place on May 22, 2013, when it was test-fired from from the Navy’s guided missile frigate INS Tarkash off the Goa coast.
  • The new extended range version, designed after 2016, was first tested in 2017 by the Indian Navy. It was fired from stealth frigate INS Teg in the Bay of Bengal on March 11, 2017.
  • The latest test of the missile by the Indian Navy was on January 24, 2024
  • As of 2023, 75% indigenous capacity has been achieved, including manufacturing parts of the missile, spares, and checkout equipment used for testing it.
  • More than 200 Indian industries were involved in the indigenisation and that the missile project itself had created 25,000 jobs.
Source- The Hindu

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