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Brahmos Cruise Missile: The backbone of the Indian Navy Firepower

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Source: https://navalpost.com/brahmos-cruise-missile/


Image courtesy of Sayantan Biswas

Cruise missiles have gained a vital role in today’s conflicts due to their precision, speed, and versatility. They can be launched from air, land, sea, and subsea, making them vital assets for deterrence and open combat. “BrahMos Missile” is one of the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missiles in terms of history, design, and features.

Background and History
In February 1998, India and Russia signed an inter-governmental agreement to establish BrahMos Aerospace (BA) to produce cruise missiles. The missiles are designed, developed, and built by BA, a joint venture company set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation and Mashinostroyenia of Russia. The company was established on 12 February. India holds a 50.5% share of the joint venture, while Russia has a 49.5% share.

In 2008, BA acquired Indian state-owned firm Keltec to manufacture and integrate BrahMos components and missile systems. It was necessary to meet the increased orders received from the Indian Army and Navy. The missile’s name is a combination of the names of Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers. The first missile was test-fired from the integrated test range at Chandipur in Orissa Coast in June 2001. Since then, the missile has been successfully tested from various platforms, including land-based platforms and warships.

The earliest version of the ship launched BrahMos, and the land-based system is in service of the Indian Navy and the Indian Army since 2005 and 2007, respectively. In July 2019, the range of BrahMos had reached 500 km. With its speed, it becomes one of the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missiles.

Design and Features of BrahMos
brahmos 2 - naval postTass Image

BrahMos is derived from the Russian-made P-800 Oniks / Yakhont supersonic anti-ship cruise missile. The BrahMos propulsion is based on the Oniks, while BrahMos Aerospace developed the guidance system. The missile can be configured for land, sea, and aerial platforms. An aircraft-launched variant (BrahMosA) is currently being configured for the Sukhoi SU-30MKI aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

It features a smaller booster and additional tail fins for more excellent stability during launch. The ship and land-based BrahMos missiles can carry a conventional semi-armour-piercing warhead of 200kg, while the aerial variant can take a 300kg warhead. The deep penetration capabilities of the Brahmos were tested successfully in November 2013 at the Pokhran test range in Rajasthan, India.

The missile has some unique features, they are :

– Universal for multiple platforms,

– “Fire and Forget” principle of operation,

– High supersonic speed all through the flight,

– Long flight range with varieties of flight trajectories,

– Low radar signature,

– Shorter flight times leading to lower target dispersion and quicker engagement,

– Pinpoint accuracy with high lethal power,

aided by considerable kinetic energy on impact.

brahmosIns Ranvijay Launching Brahmos Missile

Specifications
The BrahMos is equipped with stealth technology designed to make it less visible to radar and other detection methods. In addition, it has an inertial navigation system for use against ship targets and a Global Positioning System for use against land targets.

Terminal guidance is achieved through an active or passive radar. In addition, the missile can attack surface targets by flying as low as five meters in altitude, and the maximum height it can fly is 14,000 meters. It has a diameter of 70 cm and a wingspan of 1.7 m. It can gain a total speed of Mach 3 and has a maximum range of 450 km.

It has a two-stage propulsion system with a solid-propellant rocket for initial acceleration and a liquid-fuelled ramjet responsible for the sustained supersonic cruise. Air-breathing ramjet propulsion is much more fuel-efficient than rocket propulsion giving the the missile a more extended range than a pure rocket-powered missile would achieve. In addition, the high speed of the BrahMos likely gives it better target-penetration characteristics than lighter subsonic cruise-missiles, such as Tomahawk.

brahmos 1 - naval postIns Chennai Launching Brahmos (Indian Navy Image)

Its 2.8 Mach speed means that some existing missile defence systems cannot intercept it, and its precision makes it lethal to surface targets. Although the missile was primarily an anti-ship missile, the Block III version can also engage land-based targets. It can be launched either in a vertical or inclined position and can cover marks over a 360-degree horizon. The BrahMos missile 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.

The missile has currently been configured for aerial deployment with the Su-30MKI as its carrier.

Conclusion

To sum up; BrahMos is the most modern missile system ever developed by India and Russia and has made India one of the leading countries in missile technology. Moreover, as the tension is rising in the Indo-Pacific Reagon, Brahmos will be the main firepower missile for all branches of the Indian Army.

Check out Naval Library App to find out more about the specifications of the BrahMos Missile.
 
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Russia tech has fallen behind China. After Cold War Russia cannot match China in technology. Russia cannot make destroyer or aircraft carrier like China can.
As per your article says yj-18 is based on hybrid Klub series ànd lol if China were ahead in technology to Russia in cold war why you bought so many weapons from Soviets/ Russians ànd illegally copied so many weapons of Soviets/ Russians

You're underage troll without any logical common sense lol
Russia tech has fallen behind China. After Cold War Russia cannot match China in technology. Russia cannot make destroyer or aircraft carrier like China can.
They have all technologies related to military ànd aerospace but main problem for them is $$
 
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As per your article says yj-18 is based on hybrid Klub series ànd lol if China were ahead in technology to Russia in cold war why you bought so many weapons from Soviets/ Russians ànd illegally copied so many weapons of Soviets/ Russians

You're underage troll without any logical common sense lol

Times has changed. YJ-18 is far superior to BrahMos. Much longer range.
 
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Times has changed. YJ-18 is far superior to BrahMos. Much longer range.
Ànd you're not the pianerin
They are both in the same league.
No hybrid Klub ànd yj-18 ( subsonic cruise+ terminal supersonic) is more deadly than brahmos because they have both qualities stealthness of subsonic anti ship missiles (sea skimming) ànd less reaction times of supersonic anti ship missiles like brahmos, all supersonic cruise missiles are not a true cruise missiles they cruises tens of meters above the sea they have big IR ànd radar signature opposite to their subsonic counterparts ànd India is already tested ànd inducting 600 km version of brahmos ànd working 800 km range version
But ALL SUPERSONIC ANTI SHIP MISSILES HAS ONE ADVANTAGE OVER SUBSONIC CRUISE MISSILES THEIR REACTION TIME IS SO LOW DURING THE CRUISE PHASE TO COVER THE VAST SAWTH OF THE SEA AS COMPARE TO HYBRID (SUBSONIC CRUISE + TERMINAL SUPERSONIC) ÀND ALL SUBSONIC CRUISE MISSILES THAT'S ENEMY HAVE ONLY ONE CHANCE TO INTERCEPT ALL SUPERSONIC ANTI SHIP MISSILES
 
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The BrahMos is equipped with stealth technology designed to make it less visible to radar and other detection methods. In addition, it has an inertial navigation system for use against ship targets and a Global Positioning System for use against land targets.

I wonder what is this new marvel of technology is that defies the laws of physics. Its very simple, the faster a missile travels the higher the Radar Cross Section(RCS) of that missile. As soon as the Brahmos is launched, it will picked up by the enemy if they have a credible radar network. The faster the missile, the higher the RCS and the less maneuverable the missile will be because sudden movements will likely risk the missile breaking of.

Terminal guidance is achieved through an active or passive radar. In addition, the missile can attack surface targets by flying as low as five meters in altitude, and the maximum height it can fly is 14,000 meters. It has a diameter of 70 cm and a wingspan of 1.7 m. It can gain a total speed of Mach 3 and has a maximum range of 450 km.

I call BS. Show me a video of the Brahmos traveling as low as 5 meters. To travel at a speed of Mach 3 at less then 5 meters of the ground would require extreme maneuverability on part of the missile which a supersonic missile simply does not has.

While Brahmos is great against an enemy that does not has a sophisticated radar network, but against an enemy that boasts a credible radar network it does not pose the same level of threat.
 
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YJ-18 is a different type of missile to Brahmos. If Brahmos is hammer YJ-18 is scalpel. For different purpose and different strength. YJ-12 is probably better comparison to Brahmos. However China relies on huge numbers of these missiles since it is facing USA. Our top level anti ship and anti surface missiles are HGV and maneuverable ballistic ones. Rely on digital warfare is also part of breaking down defence and making it easier or even possible for missiles to get close and hit targets. There is so much to how complex this is but simply Brahmos is better suited to being compared with YJ-12 than YJ-18. That guy doesn't seem to know what he is talking about.

No point talking about where Russia is, just leave that out. Time will show.
I wonder what is this new marvel of technology is that defies the laws of physics. Its very simple, the faster a missile travels the higher the Radar Cross Section(RCS) of that missile. As soon as the Brahmos is launched, it will picked up by the enemy if they have a credible radar network. The faster the missile, the higher the RCS and the less maneuverable the missile will be because sudden movements will likely risk the missile breaking of.



I call BS. Show me a video of the Brahmos traveling as low as 5 meters. To travel at a speed of Mach 3 at less then 5 meters of the ground would require extreme maneuverability on part of the missile which a supersonic missile simply does not has.

While Brahmos is great against an enemy that does not has a sophisticated radar network, but against an enemy that boasts a credible radar network it does not pose the same level of threat.

You are right. brahmos is not very capable of following terrain. It is quite straight forward trajectory which is partly its weakness compared to modern cruise missiles which stick to terrain and attack from unexpected angles because they perform huge radius detour. Even very old Chinese KD-63 cruise missile has some basic radar avoidance technology. These days it isn't just avoiding radar but spoofing radar and performing some local EMP just by the cruise missile itself. Brahmos sounds impressive due to fast speed but these days you need fast speed, and all the other things.

YJ-18 speeds up to mach 3 in terminal phase and perform turns in the 20km before hitting target. Klub missile is main Russian cruise missile now too for many reasons they don't rely on Onyx for modern war. We use CJ-10, YJ-100 DH-10 cruise missile range for normal anti surface with YJ-18 as focused anti ship weapon combined with YJ-12 for closer range targets.

YJ-12 is honestly not as good which is cold war method using just fast speed. Now fast speed is too easy and fast speed move to above mach 5. This is why all the modern PLAN ships don't even bother using YJ-12 but use VLS for YJ-18, HHQ-9B, HHQ-16B, new medium range anti air missile, anti satellite and BMD interceptor probably can intercept HGV since one was tested this year, and of course all the land attack cruise missile types. Rumor also includes Type 055 wishing to be capable of carrying new smaller HGV weapons that are smaller size to the H-6 carried scramjet HGV air launched missile. It is not ballistic like Kinzhal but HGV and I think air breathing HGV due to inlet being visible. Smaller HGV weapon like zircon can be put onto Type 055 VLS.
 
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Indians like to boast, their paper data are unreliable. But frankly speaking, the paper performance of the Brahmos missile is still relatively good. I admit that it is the representative of Russia's new generation of supersonic anti-ship missiles.

But it has many disadvantages:

1. Brahmos adopts nose cone air inlet, and the internal space of the projectile is compressed, so it is impossible to install large search radar. The radar field of view is very narrow, which can be regarded as a semi blind projectile.

2. The missile body is too long, which makes it impossible to conduct snake maneuver, and the terminal lacks penetration capability.

3. The 300 km range is a high altitude ballistic range, not a low altitude ballistic range. Brahmos is too big and has obvious heat source characteristics. If high-altitude trajectory is used, it is easy to intercept. If it uses a low altitude trajectory, it has no range of 300 km.

4. India's early warning platform capability is very poor, and the missiles lacking detection capability lack lethality. India lacks the ability to find enemies 300 km away.

5. Brahmos adopts GPS and inertial guidance. With China's electronic warfare capability, we can interfere with such a missile in the launch phase and middle section, resulting in its yaw.

6. The most serious disadvantage: only su30 in India can launch Brahmos, India lacks a launch platform. And the Brahmos is too big. The su30 can only carry one Brahmos, which makes it easy to intercept. The Chinese fighter can carry three YJ12, and the performance of YJ12 is better.
 
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No a Chinese H-6 can carry at least four YJ-12 or other land attack cruise missile with 1000km+ range such as CJ, DH, DF, or YJ series.

No Chinese J fighter or JH fighter attack plane can carry YJ-12. They can carry YJ-91 anti radiation ramjet missile which is upgraded Kh-31.

Brahmos is mostly for Indian navy to use since nothing in their airforce can carry it except for Su-30MKI. Su-30MKI is better used as air to air fighter rather than making it perform strike mission although against Pakistan they may use it for this purpose since they have fighter number advantage and better fighters too, they don't need to worry much about Su-30MKI doing strike mission and not being used for air superiority.

YJ-12 and Brahmos both can be ground and ship launched. That means fighting against ships anyway. Su-30MKI taking some air to air missiles and a brahmos has shortened range due to weight. It cannot strike much value targets in China and they will be surrounded by air defence. Against Pakistan this is very effective. Pakistan only has FD-2000 which is maybe HQ-9A level. They also don't have that many and probably used to protect nuclear launch systems.

India truly has much stronger military than Pakistan but if they invade it, they will risk bloodied injuries and even nuclear war. So Pakistan should not worry so much but still need to stay within fighting capability on a smaller budget.
 
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Can China intercept against Brahmos? Well it is a big target and honestly quite slow for today if China is practicing and succeeding in intercepting moving hypersonic targets already. Even US recognize test in 2021 was success and clearly target was hypersonic from high altitude zig zag pattern of flight trajectory shown in pictures.

Well Brahmos is larger than most even typical missiles. It has straight flight path. No terrain following capability at all. If using lower flight path, trajectory is still straight, and due to air density also means lower range. Even then it cannot do sneak attack like modern cruise missiles. It is not stealthy and has huge heat signature. China has long range AD which will engage Su-30MKI at around 200km if not more. Also engage Brahmos at these range. If they fly low to reduce detection range, they will have less than 100km effective weapon range. Then China has intermediate range interceptor with HQ-22 for around 100km range. Then mid range interceptor and then short range interceptor and then point defence interceptors and guns. Brahmos slip through all this is close to 0% chance for something with huge radar and heat signature and straightforward flight trajectory. No strong electronic defence and active EW to defeat SAM radars.

When Russia offered export Onyx which is Brahmos to China, China wasn't very interested in making this its main missile because China was developing HGV for next generation already in the 1990s and for conventional missiles, China wanted long range, better terrain following, and lower radar and heat signature. YJ series isn't best for radar or heat reduction but at least either has same speed and always better terrain management and some has much longer range e.g. YJ-18 or the cruise missiles.

Radial intake design for ramjet missile is no longer the best solution. Everyone uses similar intake design as old Soviet Kh-31 and Mosquito or Sunburn missile. Look at European Meteor missile's ramjet intake design, Japanese ASM-3 missile, Taiwanese Hsiung Feng 3. Radial intake design has many problems but doesn't solve any problem. All those ramjet missiles are mach 2.5+ capable just like Brahmos. But radial intake reduce penetration, reduce warhead radius, reduce seeker size.
 
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