Extended Range Version of Brahmos missile

Why in news?

• The missile achieved the desired mission objectives in the Bay of Bengal region. With this, IAF has achieved a significant capability boost to carry out precision strikes from SU-30MKI aircraft against land or sea targets over very long ranges.
• The capability of striking the targets located at around 350 kilometres compared to around 290 kilometres for the initial version.
• The first test of the initial version of the Brahmos Air Launched Cruise Missile was conducted in 2017.

What are Brahmos missiles?

• Brahmos is a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation of India and NPOM of Russia. It is named after the rivers Brahmaputra and Moskva.
• It is a two-stage, solid propellant engine in the first stage and a liquid ramjet in the second.
• It can be launched from land, air, and sea and multi a capability missile with pinpoint accuracy that works both day and night irrespective of the weather conditions.
• It operates on the “Fire and Forget” principle it does not require further guidance after launch.
• These are called “standoff range weapons”, fired from a range far enough to allow the attacker to evade defensive counter-fire.
• Brahmos is one of the fastest cruise missiles currently operationally deployed with the speed of Mach 2.8, which is nearly 3 times more than the speed of sound.

Q1) Why BrahMos is the best missile in the world?

Compared to existing state-of-the-art subsonic cruise missiles, BRAHMOS has three times more velocity, 2.5 to 3 times more flight range, 3 to 4 times higher target detection range and more than nine times of kinetic energy.

Source: IAF successfully test fires extended range version of the Brahmos missile from SU-30MKI fighter

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