Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
February 11, 2012
IWG Report 2009
Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
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BrahMos PJ-10
| Country: | India |
|---|---|
| Class: | S/Su/L/ALCM |
| Target: | Land, Ship |
| Length: | 8.0-8.2 m |
| Diameter: | 0.67 m |
| Launch Weight: | 3000.00 kg |
| Payload: | 200-300 kg HE or submunitions |
| Propulsion: | Ramjet w/ solid booster |
| Range: | 300 or 500 km |
| Guidance: | INS, GPS, active and passive radar |
| Status: | Operational |
| In Service: | 2005 |
| Associated Country: | Russia |
Details
The BrahMos PJ-10 is a short-range, ramjet powered, single warhead, supersonic anti-ship cruise missile developed and manufactured by India and Russia. Ship-, air-, ground-, and submarine-launched versions exist. It is currently among the most formidable cruise missiles in development.
The BrahMos, which derives its name from the Brahmaputra and Moscow rivers in India and Russia, is based on the earlier Russian design for the SS-N-26 (3M55 Oniks) cruise missile.(1) In 1998, a joint venture was set up between the Indian Defense Ministry’s Defense Research and Development Organization and Russia’s Mashinostroyeniye Company. The two entities formed a company now known as Brahmos Aerospace, which would develop and manufacture the BrahMos PJ-10. Sources indicate that by 2006 India and Russia had already invested $300 million in the company.(2)
As an anti-ship missile, the BrahMos PJ-10 is distinguished by its reported supersonic speed of Mach 2.8, approximately one kilometer per second. In addition to making it difficult to intercept, this speed also imparts a greater strike power. In comparison, the U.S. RGM/UGM-109 “Tomahawk” cruise missile, which has been used successfully in both Iraq and Afghanistan, operates at a subsonic speed of less than Mach 1.0. Most other anti-ship missiles fly at subsonic speeds as well.
In addition, the BrahMos is equipped with stealth technology designed to make it less visible to radar and other detection methods. The missile also has a high level of accuracy, which has been established by recent test flights as close to 1 m CEP.(1) The missile operates on the “fire and forget” principle, meaning that once it has been launched, it will correctly strike its target without requiring any assistance. It has an inertial navigation system (INS) for use against ship targets, and an INS/Global Positioning System for use against land targets. Terminal guidance is achieved through an active/passive radar.
The BrahMos is designed to attack surface targets at altitudes as low as 10 m. The ship and ground-launched versions have a range of 300 km, while the air-launched version has a range of 500 km. The missile is powered by a solid propellant boost motor with a liquid-fuelled ramjet sustainer motor. The ship and ground-launched version is 8.2 m in length, has a body diameter of 0.67 m, carries a 300 kg payload, and has a launch weight of 3000 kg; the air-launched version is 8.0 m in length, has a diameter of 0.67 m, carries a 200 kg payload, and has a launch weight of 2200 kg. Both versions have four clipped tip delta wings at mid-body, with four small delta control fins at the rear. The BrahMos carries either a 200 or 300 kg high explosive semi-armor-piercing warhead or a 250 kg submunitions warhead.(1)
The first flight test of the BrahMos PJ-10 took place in June 2001. By April 2007, the missile had been tested at least fourteen times. The first eight tests were against ship targets and ended with the introduction of the missile into the Indian Navy in 2005. Several of the subsequent flights tested the missile against land-based targets and employed land-based launch platforms leading to the missile's introduction in the Indian Army in 2007. The missile is currently undergoing testing for air and submarine-launch systems. Flight tests aboard the Su-30 MKI aircraft probably began in 2009.(1)
The missile entered production in 2004. Initial production was probably fairly slow with about 10 to 15 missiles produced per year. It is believed that by 2008 production numbers had increased to around 40 missiles per year. About 360 missiles are expected to be produced for domestic use.(1) Some missiles will also probably be used by Russia. The BrahMos cooperation intends to export the missile rather widely. According to their webpage, exports can be expected to South Africa, Chile, Brazil, and a host of countries in the Middle East and Africa.(2)
A Brahmos II is currently in development. The Brahmos II promises to greatly exceed the speed of its predecessor and be available to the Indian Navy within several years.(2)
Footnotes
- Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems, Issue 50, ed. Duncan Lennox, (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, January 2009) 63-65.
- "BrahMos aims to create $13 billion order book," The Economic Times, 1 September 2010, from the BrahMos Official Website, available at http://www.brahmos.com/newscenter.php?newsid=137#, accessed on 20 January 2011.
India Tests Cruise Missile
India successfully tested a BrahMos cruise missile from a test range in Rajasthan on Thursday, July 29. The test target was successfully hit at 25 km. The missile tested has a range of 300km, a conventional warhead payload of 300kg, and an airspeed up to Mach 2.8.
The purpose of the launch was to test the seeker software.
» Cruise missile details: BrahMos PJ-10
India Develops Underwater Launched Version of the Brahmos
Indian Defense Minister A. K. Antony announced September 5 that India had developed an underwater launched version of Brahmos cruise missile. However, as the Indian naval fleet does not currently have the capability to launch the new version of the Brahmos, Delhi has requested that Russia provide a submarine on loan to test the new missile. The Minister added that efforts were being made to integrate the missile with both the Air Force's SU-30 MKI fighters and Navy's IL-38 maritime planes.
» More stories on: India
» Cruise missile details: BrahMos PJ-10
India Working on New Generation Missiles
India's Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has started work on new types of missiles, following successful tests of the Agni and Prithvi models. The new missiles include a superior version of the Agni III, a hypersonic BrahMos and a naval missile known as Sagarika. The superior Agni III, tentatively scheduled for testing in 2010, would boast a range of 5000 to 5500 kilometers, effectively pushing India into the club of nations with intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The hypersonic BrahMos missile would move approximately ten times faster than the present version and is awaiting final consent from India and Russia, which produce the missile jointly. The Sagarika would be a submarine launched, nuclear-armed, missile with a range of 1000 kilometers.
» More stories on: India
» Cruise missile details: BrahMos PJ-10
» Missile details: Agni-3
India Launches Brahmos
India test-fired a supersonic cruise missile Wednesday, launching it from an Indian destroyer near the eastern coast of Orissa. The Brahmos cruise missile, which has been developed jointly by India and Russia, is said to have a range of 290 kilometers with a conventional warhead—weighing, according to various reports, 200 or 300kg—and was designed to be launched from ships, submarines or planes. Today’s test reportedly took place from a destroyer, the INS Rajput, from the Bay of Bengal.
» More stories on: Cruise Missiles, India, Russia, Testing - Foreign
» Cruise missile details: BrahMos PJ-10
