During my school days back in 1991 every evening I used to
stay glued to the TV sets watching news.
Odd for a teen?
It was the VHS
days and my world was just opening up to Hollywood Films. The video rental
stores offered mainly action films like Rambo & Commando. I was fascinated
by these action films with equipments and technology unknown to me. But again
those were just films.
During Gulf War in 1991 news channels started telecasting
scenes of war from Iraq to our TV screens. Missile salvos and anti-aircraft
guns firing was no more a scene from Hollywood war film, it was reality.
During these times I came know some names like Harpoon,
Tomahawk, Scud, Patriot etc. Then there were Ballistic missiles, Anti Ballistic
missiles & Cruise Missiles.
During 1991 Gulf War a total of 288 Tomahawk missiles
were fired by US Navy causing huge effect on the outcome of the war.
Since this war a lot of technological advancements have
taken place in the Cruise Missile technology.
 |
| BrahMos Missile System |
BrahMos -The latest entrant to this family is BrahMos the
only operational Mid Range Supersonic Cruise Missile in the world. Jointly
developed by India’s DRDO and Russia’s NPOM and named after two rivers (Brahmaputra
in India and Moskva in Russia), this is arguably the most advanced cruise
missile in the world. Based on Russian "P-800 Oniks" missile system, BrahMos has
a unique capability of being launched from multiple platforms like submarines,
ships, aircraft and land based Mobile Autonomous Launchers.
 |
| BrahMos being fired from Cruiser |
 |
| BrahMos fitted to Su-30MKI |
The BrahMos has a range of 290 kilometers and can carry a
conventional warhead of up to 300 kilograms. It can effectively engage targets
from an altitude as low as 10 meters and
has a top speed of Mach 2.8 with an accuracy of 1m. BrahMos is the only
supersonic cruise missile possessing advanced capability of hitting selective land
target amongst a group of targets, making it one of the most precise missile
systems.
 |
| Brahmos Mobile Launcher System |
Moreover with sustained 2.8 mach speed BrahMos cannot be
intercepted by some existing missile defense system.
 |
| BrahMos being fired from Submarine |
BrahMos-II is the second of the BrahMos series of cruise
missiles under development and is
expected to have a range of 290 kms and a speed of Mach 7. It will be the only
Hypersonic missile in the world and is expected to enter service by 2017.
Technical Info:
Weight -3,000 kg, 2,500 kg (air-launched)
Length -8.4
m
Diameter -0.6
m
Warhead -200–300
kg conventional semi-armour-piercing and nuclear
Engine -First
stage: solid propellant booster,Second stage: liquid-fueled ramjet
Operational range -Approx. 300–500 km[1]
Flight ceiling -15
km
Flight altitude -Sea-skimming,
as low as 3–4 meters
Speed -Mach
2.8–3.0
Accuracy -1
m
Launch platform -Ship,
submarine, aircraft and land-based mobile launchers.
Source: www.globalsecurity.org,
wikipedia.org, www.brahmos.com,
missilethreat.com
Image Credit : www.thehindu.com, www.thehindubusinessline.com , missilethreat.com
, aviationweek.com, wikipedia.org,
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