Latest news with #BrahMosAerospace
India Today
17 hours ago
- Politics
- India Today
After BrahMos's Op Sindoor success, India ramps up hypersonic missile development
India is set to fast-track the development of its next-generation hypersonic cruise missile, BrahMos-II, following the success of BrahMos strikes on Pakistan's terror and military infrastructure during Operation Sindoor last decision marked a significant leap in the country's missile programme and came on the back of notable progress in indigenous scramjet engine technology by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).advertisementBrahMos-II, being developed as a joint venture between India and Russia under BrahMos Aerospace, is designed to reach speeds of Mach 6 to Mach 8 — six to eight times the speed of sound — with a strike range of up to 1,500 kilometres. Defence sources told India Today TV that high-level consultations between the two nations on the joint development of this hypersonic system are expected to resume shortly. The missile will be powered by a scramjet engine, an upgrade over the current BrahMos missile's ramjet propulsion system. The design of BrahMos-II is reportedly inspired by Russia's 3M22 Zircon, a scramjet-powered missile already inducted into the Russian Navy and capable of reaching speeds of Mach announced in 2008, the BrahMos-II programme faced several roadblocks, including restrictions under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which initially prevented Russia from sharing technologies with ranges exceeding 300 km. These hurdles were eased after India joined the MTCR in 2016. However, technological challenges and high costs also contributed to revival of the programme came amid intensifying global competition in hypersonic weaponry, with India now seeking to strengthen its strategic defence posture through enhanced Indo-Russian the BrahMos missile — inducted into all three wings of the Indian Armed Forces — is the world's fastest operational supersonic cruise missile, flying at Mach 3.5 with a strike range between 290 and 800 kilometres. The missile played a pivotal role in Operation Sindoor, where it successfully neutralised all intended targets using its fire-and-forget Projected CapabilitiesSpeed: Estimated between Mach 6 to Mach 8Range: Up to 1,500 kmEngine: Scramjet propulsionDesign influence: Based on Russia's 3M22 ZirconWeight: Approx. 1.33 tonnes (half the weight of the BrahMos-A air-launched variant)Platform compatibility: Expected to be integrated with India's LCA Tejas Mk 2In a key milestone, DRDO in April 2025 successfully tested the scramjet combustor for over 1,000 seconds — a breakthrough that signalled India's readiness to enter the hypersonic missile league.
India.com
3 days ago
- Business
- India.com
Bad news for Pakistan, China as India's BrahMos-2 hypersonic missile will be based on Russia's deadly..., it will be lethal because...
India's BrahMos Missile BrahMos-2 hypersonic missile: In a significant development after the success of BrahMos hypersonic missile during the recently conducted Operation Sindoor, media reports have it that technology of Russia's Zircon hypersonic missile will be used in the upcoming variant of the Indo-Russian collaborated BrahMos 2 missile. As per a report by Russian news agency TASS, BrahMos Aerospace CEO Atul Rane has said that the development of BrahMos-2 is in an advanced stage and the first flight of BrahMos-2 can be conducted in 2027 or 2028. Here are all the details you need to know BrahMos-2 hypersonic missile. Readers must note that the BrahMos-2 missile is the hypersonic variant of BrahMos supersonic missile that India is currently using. The missile is being jointly developed by Russia's Research and Production Association of Machine-Building (NPO Mashinostroeniya) and India's Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). BrahMos-2 hypersonic missile The new BrahMos-2 hypersonic missile will include many features of Zircon missile. For a background, Russia's Zircon missile is a maneuvering anti-ship hypersonic cruise missile with an estimated range of 500 km to 750 km. BrahMos proved its effectiveness again during Operation Sindoor: India's Ambassador to Russia In a significant development after Operation Sindoor, India and Russia have continued to deepen their defence cooperation. The effectiveness of 'Made in India' defence equipment was decisively proven during Operation Sindoor against Pakistan, Vinay Kumar, the Ambassador of India to Russia, said in an interview to a Russian publication. 'Our relations have even deepened recently. We not only buy and sell military equipment, but also engage in joint development and production of defence products. Equipment manufactured in India, including BrahMos (a supersonic anti-ship missile of joint Russian-Indian production), has repeatedly proven its effectiveness, including during the period from May 7 to 10. Therefore, I believe that our relations in this area will only develop,' Ambassador Vinay Kumar told Izvestia in an interview. (With inputs from agencies)
India.com
4 days ago
- Politics
- India.com
Bad news for Pakistan and China as India is secretly enhancing Brahmos missile, will become more deadly, its features will...
The BrahMos missile, often referred to as India's 'Brahmastra,' severely damaged various strategic locations of Pakistan, which were used for anti-India purposes, including major airbases, in Operation Sindoor. However, there is more bad news for the enemy country as India is set to give sleepless nights to Pakistan. In Operation Sindoor, BrahMos was the main missile used in the attack and can travel at speeds up to Mach 3. Reports say that a faster version, which can fly at speeds over Mach 5, is being developed. Its range is also being increased from over 400 km to around 800 km. When it was first made, BrahMos could only travel 290 kilometers, but over time, it has become a much stronger and more advanced missile. While speaking to NDTV, former Director General of BrahMos Aerospace, Atul D. Rane, 'Any incremental research takes time and also, of course, money, which is being put in. The current BrahMos, in its current size and shape, has a limitation. But it's a limitation, and it can go somewhere where no one else has gone…we should see it very soon.' While speaking about the future prospects, Atul D. Rane explained, 'We could look at a smaller and potent version of BrahMos so that we could put two missiles in the underbelly of the Su-30 instead of one, and not just Sukhoi, but other aircraft as well,' he said. Mr. Rane revealed that the design phase is already underway, and they've reached the stage where metal cutting has begun. He said the next generation of BrahMos is being developed — a smaller, lighter missile that will be just as fast. While its lighter weight may slightly alter the kinetic energy upon impact, it will still be powerful enough to destroy its targets.
NDTV
5 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
"It's A Hittile": BrahMos Ex-Chief On Missile's Journey, Strength And Future
New Delhi: The world's fastest supersonic cruise missile, BrahMos, showcased "India's military might" during Operation Sindoor after it struck Pakistan's military infrastructure during the 100-hour battle, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the missile gave Pakistan "sleepless nights" during the operation. From its inception in 1998, when India and Russia signed an agreement, paving the way for the formation of BrahMos Aerospace, to the missile's first combat use in 2025, BrahMos has evolved over the last two decades. Atul D Rane, former Director General, BrahMos Aerospace, spoke to NDTV, sharing insights on BrahMos' path to indigenisation, what makes it difficult to intercept, its integration with Su-30MK, becoming a "universal missile" and the future of the missile. Path To Indigenisation "When BrahMos was conceived, we used a baseline principle that we would work on one of the Russian engines. We started with about 7 per cent of the missiles being indigenous and quickly upped it to about 15 per cent. But after that, it was a process of the Indian industries picking up production and indigenizing stuff, which was manufactured in Russia. "Slowly, over the years, the indigenous content has risen, with various components coming in, and the Indian defence industry has done a commendable job," Mr Rane said. "Today, we are sitting at close to 84 per what is flying right now is only about 74 to 75 per cent, because it takes some time before the indigenized subsystem or system gets qualified to enter a combat missile," he said. BrahMos - Not A Missile But A Hittile BrahMos is the world's fastest supersonic cruise missile, meaning it can travel faster than the speed of sound. BrahMos can hit targets 400 kilometres away and travel at Mach 3 (Three times the speed of sound). Mr Rane said speed is a big factor that makes it difficult to intercept. "Speed plays the maximum factor. It's fast. It's hugely fast. We have been working on many improvements over the years. And the thing is, it's a very slip missile compared to what it does. So, the radar cross section is also fairly low. High-speed, Low Radar Cross-Section (RCS), what more do you want?" Firing of ship-launched BrahMos High speed and low RCS make BrahMos difficult to intercept by radars, along with its high manoeuvrability, especially at high speed, but Mr Rane said we have done it. "The BrahMos has evolved into a weapon which doesn't fly like an arrow. It flies like a missile, and a missile which hits the everyone talks about a miss distance or the circular error of probability of a missile. In BrahMos, over the days, as we kept working on the missile, different tests, which we've done, the user trials, which they have been doing to learn themselves and train themselves, I have started saying that BrahMos is not a missile. It's a hittile. It hits the target it's designated to hit." The term hittile is used to describe a missile or a weapon with high accuracy and reliability in hitting the target. BrahMos works on a "fire and forget principle" with a seeker, a vital part of a missile which detects, tracks a target with accuracy. BrahMos uses an Indian seeker, but the development has taken years. Mr Rane said the "Seeker has been a bugbear for us for years. But the challenge was that it needed to be done. We started 20 years ago." "Today, it's capable of flying. It's not just the seeker integration, the accuracy of the hardware, the airframe, and then coming down to the navigation system, the tweaks we have to do to the navigation system, the onboard control, all this put together creates the accuracy of the missile," he added. Integration With Su-30MKI BrahMos is a heavy cruise missile, and integrating it with the Russian Su-30MKI multi-role fighters was a challenge, from its engineering to the high cost of getting it done outside. Mr Rane said, "Anything imported or import-substituted starts with a large cost. Yes. When the management of Brahmos Aerospace, along with DRDO, decided that the cost of trying to get it done from outside would be too much, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited also came on board. People worked tirelessly. It's not just the integration of the missile into the aircraft but also the electrical and software interfaces. The Indian Air Force chipped in because they already knew about the Su-30. An even bigger challenge was that we didn't know the Su-30 inside out. We had to create wind tunnel models. We had to create the separation studies." Test firing of BrahMos from Su-30MKI He further explained that the engineers had to factor in whether BrahMos was safe to separate from the Su-30. "The mother aircraft is much more precious than the BrahMos missile. It was a very long journey. I must say, there would have been at least 200 to 300 engineers, armed forces personnel, and HAL personnel working on this project," Mr Rane said. The heaviest weapon being carried on an aircraft is the Brahmos air version on the Su-30, the former DG of BrahMos Aerospace told NDTV. Becoming A Universal Weapon BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture between India's DRDO and Russia's NPO Mashinotroyenia (NPOM), with India holding 50.5 per cent and Russia with 49.5 per cent. The first test launch of the BrahMos took place on June 12, 2001, in Odisha's Chandipur. Mr Rane said, "BrahMos was initially conceived to be only an anti-ship cruise missile, a supersonic cruise missile. But then, once it started working, it started coming out that one shouldn't just be sitting with one fantastic product. One needs to make sure it's delivered on time, which is a mantra of BrahMos to deliver things on time. We moved quickly from an anti-ship cruise missile to a land-attack missile. Once the Indian Army got in with it, they said that we would like to see some more stuff that is launching from high altitudes, having waypoints, getting over improvement has been seamless." "Today, it's a universal missile. The missiles, which are launched from the surface, are either from the Indian naval ships or from the mobile autonomous launchers which are with the Indian Army; these two missiles can be swapped without any problem. The idea was to create a universal missile. The dream is to have a cartridge, a missile filled in a canister, and you pick up that canister and put it wherever you want, and the missile can be used. Of course, with a little tweak in software," he said. The air version of BrahMos is different from the ship and mobile-launcher variant since the Su-30MKI can't carry such a heavy missile in its underbelly. Future Of BrahMos BrahMos was at the forefront of the offensive during Operation Sindoor, and it can travel at Mach 3 speeds. A hypersonic variant (speeds exceeding Mach 5) is reportedly under development, along with an extended range of the missile from the current 400. BrahMos started with a range of 290 kilometres and has evolved into being more potent than it was many years ago. Mr Rane said, "Any incremental research takes time and also, of course, money, which is being put in. The current BrahMos, in its current size and shape, has a limitation. But it's a limitation, and it can go somewhere where no one else has should see it very soon." "We could look at a smaller and potent version of BrahMos so that we could put two missiles in the underbelly of the Su-30 instead of one, and not just Sukhoi, but other aircraft as well," he said. Mr Rane shared that the design has already started, and we have already reached the point of cutting metal. We're looking at the BrahMos next generation, a smaller missile. Equally fast. Of course, lighter. So the kinetic energy when it hits will be a little different, but good enough to destroy targets. "The Tejas Mark-II, an ungraded version of the Tejas Mark 1, will carry the BrahMos-NG, one each under the wings. So two BrahMos on each Tejas and possibly a full-scale large BrahMos under the belly of the Su-30 and two NGs under the wings of the Su-30," Mr Rane said. India has also delivered the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines. Several Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, and Middle Eastern nations have also reportedly expressed interest in the missile systems.
News18
6 days ago
- Politics
- News18
How Yogi's UP Became New Home Of BrahMos Missiles That Destroyed 11 Pakistani Airbases
Last Updated: It was Yogi Adityanath, during the recent inauguration of the BrahMos Aerospace facility in Lucknow, who confirmed the use of the missile in India's retaliatory strikes. The glistening, 28-feet long silver arrows cruised through the night air on May 9-10 at 3,600 kmph, or nearly six times the speed of normal aircraft, 'BrahMos' emblazoned across them in blue. Fifteen of them crashed as giant fireballs on 11 of Pakistan's 13 major airbases, crippling the country's air defence network and military infrastructure. All that remained were runways pockmarked with craters, ashes of air defence radars and equipment, and a nation scampering to save its nuclear facilities from further hits. The BrahMos, dispatched to avenge the Pahalgam terror attack, left Pakistan in a muted scream, a thousand kilometres from its new home, the Sarojini Nagar defence production unit in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. UP under CM Yogi Adityanath is the newest birthplace of Asia's most dreaded ballistic missile. It was Yogi, during the recent inauguration of the BrahMos Aerospace facility in Lucknow, who confirmed the use of the missile in India's retaliatory strikes. 'If you didn't witness the BrahMos in action, ask the people of Pakistan," he said with a smile. The announcement was made at a high-profile event – the inauguration of the BrahMos production unit in Lucknow. It was a carefully timed disclosure to bring into sharp focus not just India's rapidly growing military might but also UP's role in defence manufacturing. BrahMos is a long-range supersonic cruise missile jointly developed by India and Russia. Its 'Fire-and-Forget' principle, two-stage propulsion system, stealth features, and advanced guidance technology make it extremely difficult to detect or intercept. Depending on the mission, the missile can carry warheads of up to 300 kg and can fly barely 10 metres from the ground and as high as 15 km. Naturally, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018 announced two Defence Industrial Corridors – one in Uttar Pradesh and the other in Tamil Nadu – BrahMos was a key component of the plan. These corridors are part of the 'Make in India' and 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' initiatives aimed at reducing Bharat's past dependence as the world's largest importer of arms. Uttar Pradesh was chosen because of its enormous population, bustling economy, and existing manufacturing capabilities, particularly in medium, small and micro enterprises. Its central location, infrastructure, and connectivity make it easy to access supply chains in defence production. Then there is a preponderance of skilled labour available for large-scale manufacturing. The Yogi Adityanath government also offers incentives and subsidies to draw investment, including tax benefits and land cost rebates. The six designated nodes of the UP Defence Industrial Corridor include Lucknow, Kanpur, Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, and Chitrakoot. The new BrahMos Aerospace facility in Lucknow has been built on 80 hectares provided without cost by the state with a total investment of Rs 300 crore. The BrahMos Aerospace Unit in Lucknow includes a precision casting plant for critical components of jet engines and aircraft systems; a forge shop and mill products plant for titanium and super alloy bars, rods, and sheets; a precision machining shop which is India's first indigenous plant for titanium and super alloy metal powder production; the Stride Academy for practical training in defence and aerospace tech; and an R&D centre for indigenous technology development and material innovation. So far, 57 MoUs have been signed, with a proposed investment of nearly Rs 30,000 crore. The target is to raise Rs 50,000 crore and create a lakh jobs. While the BrahMos is doing its job, the destructive and creative power of the India's defence manufacturing idea is the real weapon. Abhijit Majumder is a senior journalist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views. First Published: May 30, 2025, 10:26 IST
