BRAHMOS, the supersonic cruise missile jointly developed by India and Russia, is on course for user trials. This was the message conveyed by its fourth successful test flight on October 29 from the Interim Test Range at Chandipur-on-Sea, 13 km from Balasore, Orissa. Of the four tests, three were launched from land and one from an Indian Navy warship. BrahMos is likely to be inducted into the armed forces in 2004 after some more flights, and user trials.
The highlight of the test flight on October 29 was that BrahMos was "precisely guided to its target". Dr. A. Sivathanu Pillai, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd., which produces the missile, called the event a big breakthrough. The company is a joint venture of DRDO and NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM), a state enterprise of the Russian Federation.
The primary objective of the mission was to establish the missile's guidance system. What was equally important was that the missile was tested in a surface-to-surface mode. It flew over a range of 290 km with high accuracy. "This mission was to prove its surface-to-surface role" and "we got fantastic results", Pillai said. The ground-range instrumentation systems located at the Interim Test Range and the ships out in the Bay of Bengal tracked the missile from its blast-off point to its impact point in the sea.
The control system of BrahMos is totally autonomous and it works on the "fire and forget" principle.
During its latest flight, BrahMos cruised at an altitude of 14 km before reaching its impact point. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) officials said: "The altitude should be as low as possible. This will help you to go for a long range. So we optimised the altitude for that (290 km) range. At 14 km altitude, we get a good range."
BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile that will target ships and locations on land. It can fly over a distance of 300 km. BrahMos has two stages. Its propulsion consists of a solid propellant booster and a liquid propellant ram jet system. Its liquid propellant is aviation kersosene. The missile can reach a speed of 2.8 to 3 Mach, that is 2.8 to three times the speed of sound. The three earlier test launches of the missile were in June 12, 2001, April 18, 2002 and February 12, 2003. BrahMos can be launched from a variety of platforms: land, including silos and mobile launchers; ships and submarines; and aircraft. It can carry only conventional warheads (Frontline, July 6, 2001 and March 14, 2003).
The development of the Agni-III missile, which has a range of about 3,000 km, is under way. DRDO officials claim that it will be launched in the first quarter of 2004. The production of Agni-1 and Agni-II has begun. Agni-1 has a range of about 750 km and Agni-II 2,000 km. The two missiles have reportedly been inducted into the Army. The Agni series are surface-to-surface missiles.
T.S. SubramanianCOMMents
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