India’s New 600 Km Range Brahmos Missile

26 April, 2020

India and Russia have approved an extension to the range of the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos, doubling it to 600 kilometers, according to an official with the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The official pointed out that the range of the joint venture missile can now be increased because of India’s entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which provides the country with opportunities for foreign collaboration on the missile technology.

The two countries came to agreement Oct.26 at a meeting here of the 16th Intergovernmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation, co-chaired by Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his Russian counterpart, Gen. Sergei Shoigu.

The increased range of the BrahMos will double the standoff engagement range to 600 kilometers for practically every platform that uses the cruise missile. Currently, the BrahMos is warship-launched and land-based, while the air version is still in the testing phase and likely will be adopted by year end.

The BrahMos cruise missile project is produced by India-based BrahMos Aerospace, set up in 1998, and is a joint venture between India’s Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyenia.

According to a scientist at DRDO, “only very minor changes in software and hardware are required” to increase the range.

An Indian Navy official backed this claim. “BrahMos is a re-engineered version of [the] Russian P-800 Oniks/Yakhont anti-ship missile, and no major modification is required to achieve 600-kilometers range,” the official said.

Bhonsle agrees that the range of the BrahMos missile currently in use has a 600-kilometer range.

Courtesy: Opera News/ defencenews.in