BrahMos: The Brahmastra Of India That Wreaked Havoc On Pakistan
A joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyeniya, the missile derives its name from the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers.
Published : May 13, 2025 at 4:44 PM IST
New Delhi: BrahMos, the supersonic cruise missile, wreaked havoc on Pakistani airbases in the recent India-Pakistan showdown during Operation Sindoor.
A joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyeniya, the missile derives its name from the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers. Developed first as an anti-ship missile, several variants have since been launched, with the latest version capable of being launched from land, sea, sub-sea and air against surface and sea-based targets and has constantly been improved and upgraded.
The BrahMos joint venture (JV) was formed on February 12, 1998, and the first successful launch took place in 2001. The missile has since been inducted into the Indian armed forces. Surprisingly, the BrahMos has not been inducted into the Russian armed forces. The range of the BrahMos was originally limited to 290 kms as per obligations of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) of which Russia was a signatory. Following India's entry into the club in June 2016, plans were announced to extend the range initially to 450 kms and subsequently to 600 kms. BrahMos, with the extended range of up to 450 km, has been tested several times.
In May 2023, BrahMos Aerospace – the India-Russia defence JV – commemorated '25 Supersonic Years of Success' by organising 'BRAHMOS Users Meet 2023'.
Salient Features
BrahMos is a two-stage missile with a solid propellant booster engine in the first stage, which helps it achieve supersonic speed and gets separated subsequently. The liquid ramjet, or the second stage, then takes the missile closer to Mach 3 speed. Stealth technology and guidance systems with advanced embedded software provide the missile with special features. It operates on the 'Fire-and-Forget Principle', adopting a variety of flights on its way. Its destructive power is enhanced due to the large kinetic energy on impact. Its cruising altitude could be up to 15 km, and terminal altitude is as low as 10 meters. It carries a conventional warhead weighing 200 to 300 kg.
Compared to the existing state-of-the-art subsonic cruise missiles, BrahMos has three times more velocity and flight range, four times more seeker range and nine times more kinetic energy. The missile has an identical configuration for land, sea and sub-sea platforms and uses a transport launch canister (TLC) for transportation, storage and launch.
Other Features
- Universal for multiple platforms.
- Fire-and-Forget Principle of operation.
- High supersonic speed throughout the flight.
- Long flight range with a variety of flight trajectories.
- Low radar signature.
- Shorter flight times lead to lower target dispersion and quicker engagement.
- Pinpoint accuracy with high lethal power, aided by large kinetic energy on impact.
As for the indigenous content of the missile, the level of indigenisation was 13 per cent in 1998, which stands at 80 per cent. India is the only country to have a missile of BrahMos calibre, which means barring the engine, which comes from Russia, a major part of the missile is made in India. Reports suggest the surface-launched version of the missile has an estimated cost of about $3.2- 3.5 million, the air-launched version costs around $5.5 million, and the extended-range surface-launched version costs around $4.85 million.
BrahMos is the first supersonic cruise missile known to be in service. Induction of the first version of the BrahMos Weapon Complex in the Indian Navy commenced in 2005. The Indian Army has also inducted many BrahMos regiments since 2007, and India has already deployed a sizable number of the BrahMos missiles and other key assets in several strategic locations along the de facto border with China in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh. The IAF has successfully inducted the BrahMos air-launched cruise missile system armed with Sukhoi-30mki frontline fighter aircraft.
Need for Supersonic Missile
The year 1983 marked a new chapter in India's defence history when decision-makers, along with the scientific community, embarked on an ambitious programme to address defence requirements, which gave birth to the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). The project was aimed at achieving self-sufficiency in the missiles programme by developing and producing a comprehensive range of missiles, including the intermediate-range and short-range ones.
However, after the Gulf War in the 1990s, it was felt increasingly necessary to equip the country with a cruise missile system. It was at that time that India's decades-old bonhomie with Russia, without disturbing the unique balance in the Non-Aligned Movement, came to the forefront in developing the new missile system. As a result, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, former President of India, also the missile man, and NV Mikhailov, Russia's first deputy defence minister, signed an intergovernmental agreement in Moscow on February 12, 1998, paving the way for BrahMos Aerospace to design, develop, manufacture and market the world's only supersonic cruise missile system. The first successful launch of BrahMos took place on June 12, 2001, off the Chandipur coast in Orissa. Following this, it started participating in domestic and international defence exhibitions. Stepping into the global market, the BrahMos was displayed at the MAKS-1 exhibition in Moscow for the first time in 2001.
BrahMos' Competitors
Tomahawk, developed by the US, is one of the most prominent cruise missiles in the world. It is subsonic (flies around Mach 0.8) and costs about $1.7 million per unit. It has a range of about 1,600 kms, much more than the BrahMos, but its speed makes it relatively slow and somewhat easier to intercept.
The French Apache series of missiles is also a prominent cruise missile, with a top speed of Mach 1, inducted by UAE, Greece, Saudi Arabia, the UK and Italy, besides France. The Chinese inducted the YJ-18 into the PLA in 2014. It has a range of 220–540 kms and cruises at subsonic speed before accelerating to supersonic speed in the terminal stage. China approved the missile for export in 2021. It has not been exported so far.
The Russian P-800 Oniks is a supersonic cruise missile with specifications somewhat similar to BrahMos and flies at a top speed of Mach 2.2. Its export version, with a range cap of 300 kms, was reportedly sold to Indonesia in 2009 for $1.25 million, considerably lower than the BrahMos. The missile is currently possessed by Vietnam, Indonesia, Syria and allegedly Hezbollah.
Export of BrahMos
In 2006, then President Kalam said the time had come for the marketing of the missile. India delivered BrahMos to the Philippines on April 19, 2024. In January 2022, two countries signed a $375-million deal, paving the way for government-to-government deals on BrahMos and other defence equipment.
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