BrahMos test-fired: Latest addition to India's arsenal is only supersonic missile capable of being launched from land, air and sea

On Wednesday, India successfully test-fired the BrahMos, the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile. [caption id=“attachment_4222843” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Supersonic missiles travel faster than the speed of sound. BrahMos—which has a  multi-platform, multi-mission role —completed the tactical cruise missile triad. The Indian military considers as a traid those missile which are submarine, ground and aircraft-based. The BrahMos is capable of being launched from land, air and sea. BrahMos, which is the collaborative effort of India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroeyenia, is the only supersonic weapon system in the world to have completed the triad, reported The New Indian Express. For the test on Wednesday, reported The Times of India, India fired the air variant of the missile. On being gravity-dropped from the Sukhoi-30MKI, the two-stage missile’s engine fired up and immediately propelled to hit a sea-based target in the Bay of Bengal.

The completion of tactical cruise missile triad will significantly bolster the IAF’s capabilities in long-range air combat operations. #BrahMos https://t.co/Eq0WVmgUMu pic.twitter.com/wapmG6WM2G

— रक्षा मंत्री कार्यालय/ RMO India (@DefenceMinIndia) November 22, 2017

The missile, at 2.5 tonnes, is the heaviest weapon to be deployed on India’s Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft modified to carry weapons. Times Now reported that the original missile weighed 2.9 tonnes. When BrahMos debuted at the air show in Dubai, many countries showed interest in the air version of the missile. According to Economics Times, 42 Sukhoi fighters will be armed with BrahMos missiles after Wednesday’s successful test. The army, navy and Indian Air Force have shown their preference for BrahMos as their conventional precision-strike weapon, by placing an order for missiles worth over Rs 27,150 crore, The Times of India reported.