BrahMos, the best cruise missle ever made

BRAHMOS is a Supersonic, Stealthy Cruise Missile that can be launched from submarine, ship, aircraft and land based Mobile Autonomous Launchers (MAL). The missile is launched from a Transport-Launch Canister (TLC), which also acts as storage and transportation container. The missile can be launched either in vertical or inclined position and will cover 360 degrees. The missile will utilize a variety of flight trajectories, integrating high and low profile optimizing range and detectability.

A two-stage vehicle, its propulsion consists of a solid propellant booster and liquid propellant Ramjet system.
Brahmos, incidentally, is the first and only supersonic cruise missile that uses liquid Ramjet technology

The missile was developed under a joint venture between the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) from India and the Federal State Unitary Enterprise NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM) from Russia. BrahMos is named after two rivers in India and Russia - Brahmaputra and Moskva

The missile is the first supersonic anti-ship / land attack missile. The partners reportedly received interest from several countries for export version of the Brahmos.

FEATURES :
High Supersonic Velocity
Long flight range
Varieties of flight trajectories
"Fire & Forget" principle
Universal for multiple platforms
Low Radar Signature
Simplicity of technical operations
High lethal power
Higher effectiveness

ADVANTAGES :
Long flight range with supersonic speed all through the flight
Shorter flight times leading to lower target dispersion and quicker engagement
Varieties of flight trajectories
‘Fire and forget’ principle of operation
Higher destructive capability aided by the large kinetic energy of impact
Higher effectiveness against ship defences
Canister for transportation, storage and launch


Superiority of the BRAHMOS any other cruise missile (like Tomahawk):
In Velocity by 3 times
In flight range by 2.5 - 3 times
In seeker range by 3 - 4 times






The development is complete and the missile has been inducted into the Indian Navy and Army.It will incorporated into the Su-30 MKI by 2007.

Launching Platforms

Some Useful links :

www.brahmos.com...
www.globalsecurity.org...
www.defense-update.com...
www.answers.com...
www.instantkaapi.com...
www.hindustantimes.com...
www.indiadaily.com...

[edit on 13-5-2005 by Stealth Spy]

Months before the September 11 attack, US spy satellites picked up a satellite-phone signal from somewhere near Khost in Afghanistan. Signal intelligence specialists in the US read it as terror mastermind Osama bin Laden's. Ships out in the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf were given the exact location of the source of the signal. Within minutes dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles flew towards Khost.

The missiles flew at subsonic speed and hit bin Laden's camp. But the wily lord of al Qaeda wasn't hit. By the time the Tomahawks arrived, bin Laden had escaped. If India were to launch such an operation a year from now, the chances of hit would be much higher. By then India would have BrahMos, the world's only long-range supersonic cruise missile.

For all the American hype about Tomahawks, the fact is that they fly much slower than sound. BrahMos, India's true brahmastra, would fly three times faster than the Tomahawk and is three to four times sleeker. The sleekness is not just an aesthetic parameter; the sleeker the missile, the smaller it appears on an enemy radar. Not only would the missile have a very low radar signature, but it also has electronic counter-measures.

source

Air launched variant (form the Su-30 MKI, to be ready by 2007)


Vertical Launch


Ship Launch from INS Rajput
external image

[edit on 13-5-2005 by Stealth Spy]

[edit on 13-5-2005 by dbates]

You forgot to add, that Brahmos would never be able to hit Bin Ladin or anything in Afganistan, because it has too short range. And it is not the best cruise misille, it is not even the best antiship misille (that's Shipwreck). While Brahmos can perform better in antiship role than Tomahawk, the land attack capabilities are limited because of range, small warhead and high weight. I found especially funny your claim about "advantage" over Tomahawks range "The Brahmos range is 2.5 - 3 times more" , while the image you provided clearly states the Brahmos range is 280km(300kg warhead) compared to Tomahawk 1500km and that with 454 warhead (2500km with nuclear warhead). Maybe even the future US artilery will have longer range!! At best the ship launched version is able to hit only coastal facilities. And I wonder how good will be the Su-30 flight performance and RCS with misille weighting more than 2 tons.
Besides I read on one non English source that Brahmos is now not capable to hit ground targets emiting no radar radiation (that means it is efective only against ships) - it simply lacks many Tomahawk ground attack target capabilities - like optical target recognition and it also cannot hit moving targets, or be reprogrammed during flight like the newest tactical Tomahawk.
I don't know if it has GPS equivalent guidance (India has not their own GPS and I don't know if Brahmos uses russian Glonass) so I see it's land attack performace will be quite poor.

BTW I don't say it's bad antiship misille, it has range advantage over Sunburn, but it simply isn't the universal multifunction misille as promoted.





[edit on 13-5-2005 by longbow]

Originally posted by longbow
You forgot to add, that Brahmos would never be able to hit Bin Ladin or anything in Afganistan, because it has too short range.

It can be ship launched, as shown in the pic.That way it could hit laden.Its range is also being worked upon. It is rumored that its been incresed to 900km, although thats unofficial and cant quote any sources.It is hinted in this site : www.khaleejtimes.co.ae...

While Brahmos can perform better in antiship role than Tomahawk, the land attack capabilities are limited because of range, small warhead and high weight.

That 's where its ability to hit the target with very high Kinetic Energy comes in. It'll hit the target at around Mach 3 velocity.Besides, a nuke warhead will ensure larger distruction, etc

Read this : India Tests LACM(Land Attack Crusie Missile) version of Brahmos

I found especially funny your claim about "advantage" over Tomahawks range "The Brahmos range is 2.5 - 3 times more" , while the image you provided clearly states the Brahmos range is 280km(300kg warhead) compared to Tomahawk 1500km and that with 454 warhead (2500km with nuclear warhead).

That's the claim in the OFFICIAL BRAHMOS WEBSITE. Check it out yourself >> www.brahmos.com...

That graphic is just a representation of hypothetical scenario. It dose'nt mean that its the only way the missile can be used.

And I wonder how good will be the Su-30 flight performance and RCS with misille weighting more than 2 tons.

Look at this pic of a MKI carrying a Brahmos-A dummy. This is an exclusive variant and not the same one thats launched from ships.
The RCS variation will not be much(see pic).

I don't know if it has GPS equivalent guidance (India has not their own GPS and I don't know if Brahmos uses russian Glonass) so I see it's land attack performace will be quite poor.

India currently uses the American GPS extensively. But that might soon change. Read : India to launch its own GPS

India is also heavily investing in the GLONASS and the Galileo

[edit on 13-5-2005 by Stealth Spy]

it aint no match for the missile that the Brahmos

www.fas.org...

its also design for stealth as well.

Originally posted by deltaboy
it aint no match for the missile that the Brahmos

www.fas.org...

its also design for stealth as well.

It's not as versitile as the Brahmos , and can only be launched from airplanes and most critically, its not supersonic.

Also, Not much info is available about it.

nice design
but why does it remind me of this russian design

This might intrest you :

USA, UK to consider supersonic cruise missile
The USA, joined it hopes shortly by the UK, plans to begin a research and development programme to look at a new land-attack supersonic cruise missile that could help strike time-critical targets and ones buried underground.

The programme, an advanced concept technology demonstration being sponsored by the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the US Navy, will explore development of a cruise missile capable of carrying a 200 lb (90.7kg) payload at least 400nm and preferably 600nm.

The missile would have a speed of M3.5 with a goal of M4.5 and a circular error of probability accuracy of 3m.

www.janes.com...

Britian are independently considering some subsonic, stealthy cruise missiles too, but these are only concepts that will take 10+ years to crystallise.

Originally posted by bodrul
nice design

but why does it remind me of this russian design

The Brahmos is actually based on the very capable and proven Yokhant missile of Russia. India provides its inertial navigation system. For target acquisition, it uses an active/passive seeker which could be an improved variant of the one found in the Moskit cruise missile provided by Russia to China.

Originally posted by Stealth Spy

It's not as versitile as the Brahmos , and can only be launched from airplanes and most critically, its not supersonic.

Why is being supersonic that important? The kinetic energy gained when hitting something realitave to the yeild difference in the chemical warheads is extremely small. It is only slightly harder to shoot down a supersonic missile than a subsonic - but the subsonic missile can travel at much lower altitudes and "hug" terrain much more effectively - making it extremely hard to target. Quicker time to target would be nice, but the US is "working on" TLAM's that can hover over a general area and be fed a new target via sattelite and attack that quickly.

Don't you think that if the capabilites of supersonic cruise missiles were that good with current technology that at least one western country would have one by now?

Yakhonts are actually based on Shipwrecks. That might provide you with why these two look very similar.

Yakhonts provide faster speed for several reasons because it has a smaller payload and smaller range (I think they switched the engine too but I'm not too sure about that). Brahmos is a SSM not a LACM, although it has limited capabilities. Its not meant to be like the TLAM, TLAMs are LACM with limited naval attack capability.

Good missile but I prefer Shipwrecks, fired in salvo of 12? Nothing in the world is gonna stop that. (Shipwreck is the only SSM designed to be fired in salvos where only targeting info provided for one missile is needed in stead of 12, the missiles act as a whole, Yakhonts weren't made for that.)

It can be ship launched, as shown in the pic.That way it could hit laden.Its range is also being worked upon. It is rumored that its been incresed to 900km, although thats unofficial and cant quote any sources.It is hinted in this site : www.khaleejtimes.co.ae...

A cruise missle isn't the best thing to hit a terrorist with. At most, Bin laden will just duck and watch the cruise missle fly over their heads and the fireworks after that. After all, it probably isn't really that manoverable.

That 's where its ability to hit the target with very high Kinetic Energy comes in. It'll hit the target at around Mach 3 velocity.Besides, a nuke warhead will ensure larger distruction, etc

Even if it could hit the target at Mach 3, (assuming many clustered tanks), it would not make any difference if it hit the target at Mach 0.7. The explosion will be the same. Nuke warheads? Even the Americans have never used a nuke warhead since WWII, and it would easily be grounds for MAD. Or, if its target was a single tank, whats the point of using a cruise missle? An ATGM will work just as well. Of course, remember that we are talking about the use on land. Against ships, this will make the Brahmos much better.

That's the claim in the OFFICIAL BRAHMOS WEBSITE. Check it out yourself >> www.brahmos.com...

That graphic is just a representation of hypothetical scenario. It dose'nt mean that its the only way the missile can be used.

From the site:

Superiority of the BRAHMOS Supersonic Anti-ship Missile over a Subsonic Long Range Anti-ship Missile

In Velocity by 3 times
In flight range by 2.5 - 3 times
In seeker range by 3 - 4 times


It says a subsonic long range ASM. The Tomahawk does not even fit into the category as it was not meant to be an ASM, more like a land based version.

Look at this pic of a MKI carrying a Brahmos-A dummy. This is an exclusive variant and not the same one thats launched from ships.
The RCS variation will not be much(see pic). external image

You need to chill and stop calling people dummies. Just compare the rpugh size of the one on the flanker to the one based on land/ships. The one on the flanker is about half the size as the one based on land. Obviously,its capabilities are not going to be as good as the one on land, fuel inside and warhead size would have to be smaller.

India currently uses the American GPS extensively. But that might soon change. Read : India to launch its own GPS

India is also heavily investing in the GLONASS and the Galileo

I believe the American GPS are slightly better than the Russian ones, but I don't think the Americans would want to let people launch cruise missles off them you know. And about those 2 GPS systems, China has already launched one, but the Indians still have not launched one. Guess we will just have to wait until it comes out.


[edit on 13-5-2005 by dbates]

Even though our own GPS Beidou isn't a truly "Global" positioning system, it is the start and sattelites can be relocated to where conflicts are at and guide missile with fairly great accuracy. Beidou is operational and is only a part of something more that would come in the next few years so China would stop on the dependance of Galileo, Glonass and GPS.

The Brahmos may be the best joint Indian and Russian anti-ship cruise missile in the world, and that is certainly contestable, but it is not the best all-around cruise missile in the world.




seekerof

the tomahawk is highly accurate. i seen a movie clip where a tomahawk that had
travelled 1000km then hit the target dead on.. now tell me if the brahmos can do that. the tomahawk has 20 planned routes to the target.

True seekerof.. for it to truelt be the 'best' c misssile its gotta have a range of around 1000km(at least a variant of the brahmos should) and well you can slap on a little RAM paint to it.. Then at supersonic speeds it will be almost impossible for it to be shot down..

And the benefit of a missile supersonic is the time factor..thats all...

As for the tomahawk being "very" accurate and my it is quite accurate in those pics chinawhite provided; well all those injured/dead civilians in Iraq/Baghdad after the first onslaught of tomahawks comes to mind..
The US briefings at Qatar I think were plagued by journalists repeatedly questioning the credibility of the "so called" US precision weapons"..
Just a note to be remembered and NOT forgotten..
We tend to forget things soo easily these days


And now finally to answer all GPS claims:

This is for all who KNOW how a GPS works and/or own one! :

Since The whole GPS system is a simplex method of communication with non-geosynch satellites and the positions of receivers are only known to those who are "holding" them, it is impossible for any country owning a GPS system , say the US (like W4rlord mentioned), to selectively prohibit any one country from using the system.
Esp. say if India uses the US GPS, then it will only be able to use the civilian resolution of around 100m (C/A code) and the military(P code) will not be usable.
So the GPS will be only used as a waypointish/nav co-od input for minor course corrections enroute to the target.
To resolve the actual target within the last 100 m will obv be the job of the cruise missile it self using its active-passive radar/imaging to search, lock on and destroy the target..
So if the country in charge of the GPS system( say US) wants to prohibit a particular country(say India) from using its GPS then it must shut down all civilian GPS globally..
IT does not have the capability to shut down satellites only in the region of conflict as to satellites are not geosynch and will as always move to other areas as well..
If they somehow manage to selectively trigger timer ckts on those specific satellites over the region of desired blackout then those satelites will require over 4 to 6 hours to restart (warm up), reacquire their own positions wrt othre satellites, update their ephemeris(sat almanac) and then start transmitting again.And since GPs sats have a 12 hr orbital, I calculate that they'd be blacking out almost HALF the globe!!


Hence it'll be too much of hassle to do selective GPS blackout..
Having said that I doubt that Russia will in any eventuality block out India from using the GLONASS because I think India is heavily investing and/or
technically contributing to GLONASS.

Hence the chinese necessity to build their own GPS Beidou..
How many satellites does Beidou have?
You need 21 in 6 orbital planes to achieve the above mentioned 100m civ/30m mil resolution..

[edit on 14-5-2005 by Daedalus3]

Originally posted by Daedalus3
True seekerof.. for it to truelt be the 'best' c misssile its gotta have a range of around 1000km(at least a variant of the brahmos should) and well you can slap on a little RAM paint to it.. Then at supersonic speeds it will be almost impossible for it to be shot down..

if it was 1000km it would need to be bigger. its already very hard to stop a tomahawk.
flies very low (tree top level) and has a very small RCS

if it was 1000km it would need to be bigger. its already very hard to stop a tomahawk.
flies very low (tree top level) and has a very small RCS

both missile has diffrent purpose.
brahmos is anti ship which can attack land target and his navigation is upgraded for landattack.

tomhawk is basicly a land attack missile which never configure for ship attack.

maybe we should compare a AGM-84 Harpoon to Branhmos.