The BrahMos is a short range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land.

The name BrahMos is a portmanteau formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.

It is a joint venture between the Russian Federation's NPO Mashinostroeyenia and India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) who have together formed BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited.

Specifications

BrahMos claims it has the capability of attacking surface targets by flying as low as 5 meters in altitude and the maximum altitude it can fly is 14000 meters. It has a diameter of 70 cm and a wing span of 1.7 m

It can gain a speed of Mach 2.8, and has a maximum range of 290 km.

The ship-launched and land-based missiles can carry a 200 kg warhead, whereas the aircraft-launched variant (BrahMos A) can carry a 300 kg warhead.

It has a two-stage propulsion system, with a solid-propellant rocket for initial acceleration and a liquid-fuelled ramjet responsible for sustained supersonic cruise.

Air-breathing ramjet force is much more fuel-efficient than rocket force, giving the BrahMos a longer range than a pure rocket-powered missile would achieve.

Its high speed gives it better target-penetration characteristics than lighter subsonic cruise-missiles such as the Tomahawk.

Being twice as heavy and almost four times faster than the Tomahawk, it has more than 32 times the on-cruise kinetic energy of a Tomahawk missile, though it carries only 3/5 the payload and a fraction of the range despite weighing twice as much, which suggests that it was designed with a different tactical role.

Its 2.8 mach speed means that it cannot be seize by some existing missile defence system and its precision makes it lethal to water targets.

Although it was primarily an anti-ship missile, the BrahMos Block III can also engage land based targets. It can be launched either in a vertical or inclined position and is capable of covering targets over a 360-degree horizon.

It has an identical configuration for land, sea, and sub-sea platforms. The air-launched version has a smaller booster and additional tail fins for added stability during launch.

It is currently being configured for aerial deployment with the Su-30MKI as its carrier. On 5 September 2010 it created a record for the first supersonic steep dive.

Variants

Surface-launched, Block I
• Ship-launched, anti-ship variant (operational)
• Ship-launched, land-attack variant (operational)
• Land-launched, land-attack variant (operational)
• Land-launched, anti-ship variant (In induction, tested on 10 December 2010)
Surface-launched, upgraded variants
• BrahMos Block II land-attack variant (Operational)
• BrahMos Block III land-variant (being inducted)
• Anti-aircraft carrier variant (tested in March 2012) – the missile gained the capability to attack aircraft carriers using the supersonic vertical dive variant of the missile that could travel up to 290 km.
Air-launched
• Air-launched, anti-ship variant (under development,completion in 2012)
• Air-launched, land-attack variant (under development,completion in 2012)
• Air-launched, miniaturised variant (under development)
Submarine-launched
• Submarine-launched, anti-ship variant – Tested successfully for the first time from a submerged pontoon on 20 March 2013.
• Submarine-launched, land-attack variant (under development, expected completion in 2011