India's BrahMos missile: A game-changer in aerial warfare
During the night of 6th to 7th May, India conducted an airstrike targeting locations in Pakistan. It seems that the supersonic BrahMos missile was used, as suggested by a booster discovered on Indian soil. We explain what this means.
Local residents in India discovered a rocket booster from a BrahMos missile, as evidenced by the CK-310 marking. This missile, with a range of several hundred miles, is launched from SU-30MKI aircraft. It is one of India's most effective tools for striking targets deep within enemy territory.
BrahMos — a joint creation of India and Russia
The BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile developed through the collaboration between India and Russia. Its origins trace back to February 1998, when an intergovernmental agreement was signed, leading to the formation of the joint venture BrahMos Aerospace. The name 'BrahMos' is derived from the first letters of the rivers Brahmaputra and Moscow.
The BrahMos is based on the design of the Russian anti-ship missile P-800 Oniks/Yakhont. Like its Russian counterpart, BrahMos can travel at very low altitudes (as low as 33-49 feet) above the surface of water or land at supersonic speeds, providing the target with minimal time to react unless AWACS aircraft are airborne.
The initial tests of BrahMos were conducted in June 2001, followed by numerous trials from various platforms. The missile can be launched from land platforms, surface ships, or even underwater vessels, as demonstrated by a test on 20th March 2013. The initial range was 180 miles, but newer versions boast an increased range of 497 miles.
Work on the airborne version, BrahMos-A, which is intended for launch from fighter jets, and its integration with the Su-30MKI aircraft has been ongoing since 2012. The BrahMos-A version is estimated to have a range of up to 248 miles.
BrahMos — its secret revealed
BrahMos features a two-stage design, where the first stage is a rocket booster that detaches after burnout, and the second is the main part of the missile equipped with a ramjet engine.
The rocket booster ignites after the missile is released from the aircraft and functions for a few seconds, propelling the missile to the speed required for the ramjet engine to operate. This is comparable to the European MBDA Meteor missile, which offers greater range in the same format than a conventional rocket engine.
The ramjet engine does not need a mixture of fuel and an oxidiser, as is the case with a standard rocket engine; rather, it extracts the oxygen necessary for the combustion process from the atmosphere. Simultaneously, compression occurs due to factors such as the design of the air intakes and the immense speed. Consequently, the space previously occupied by the oxidiser can be utilised for a larger fuel reserve.
This design has resulted in a missile with a range of several hundred miles, capable of travelling at speeds around Mach 3 (2,300 mph), posing a significant challenge for enemy air defence systems. The missile is also believed to carry a warhead weighing over 440 pounds, with precise targeting ensured by an inertial and satellite navigation module and radar activated in the final flight phase. All these features ensure pinpoint accuracy of strikes.
