BrahMos precision strike missile is successfully launched by an Indian Navy Stealth Frigate

What is the new ₹19,000 crore deal cleared by the Centre to procure 200 BrahMos missiles for the Navy? How will this bolster India’s maritime defences? Does it accelerate India’s defence indigenisation plan?

The story so far: Strengthening the Indian Navy’s defence arsenal, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on February 22 cleared the ₹19,000-crore acquisition of 200 BrahMos Extended Range (ER) supersonic cruise missiles for warships. The formal signing of the contract between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Indo-Russian company BrahMos Aerospace is expected to be held on March 5, government sources said.

In an interview with news agency ANI, Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said that the BrahMos will be the Navy’s primary surface-to-surface missile as it has “enhanced range, capabilities, range and so on.”

“That is why we are replacing all old missiles with this... and we are installing the BrahMos. Now, we have the expertise to install it in a very quick time,” said Admiral Kumar, adding that as it was a ‘Made in India’ missile, there was no dependency on foreign companies to assemble, repair and maintain the missiles. His comments were made on the sidelines of the Defence Expo held in Pune on February 26.

In March, 2023 the MoD had signed a ₹1,700-crore deal with BrahMos Aerospace for procuring long range missiles and maritime mobile coastal batteries for the Indian Navy. The Indian Navy’s warships or destroyers of the Vishakhapatnam class (INS Vishakhapatnam, INS Mormugao, INS Imphal), Kolkata class (INS Kolkata, INS Kochi, INS Chennai), Delhi class (INS Delhi, INS Mysore, INS Mumbai), Rajput class (INS Ranvir, INS Ranvijay) and frigates of the Shivalik class (INS Shivalik, INS Satpura, INS Sahyadri) and Talwar class (INS Teg, INS Tarkash and INS Trikand) are already equipped with BrahMos missiles.

Details of The New BrahMos Missiles

The latest acquisition cleared by the Cabinet is of the BrahMos Extended Range supersonic cruise missile (BrahMos-ER). While the base version of this missile (BrahMos) had a range of 290 km, which was later extended to 400 km, the new version is reportedly capable of striking targets at a distance 800-900 km away from the ship it is mounted on. The Navy has not, however, specified a precise strike capability.

The BrahMos-ER missile is a two-stage missile with a solid propellent booster as its first stage and a liquid-fuel fired ramjet engine as its second stage, which powers the missile beyond supersonic speed. As per the last test-firing of the missile by the Indian Navy it clocked a speed of 2.8 Mach (almost three times the speed of sound). Operating on the ‘fire and forget’ principle — the missile can hit the target without external intervention after its launch — the BrahMos-ER is designed for long flight with a variety of trajectories and is said to hit its target with pinpoint accuracy and power with large kinetic energy on impact.

Special Features of The BrahMos Cruise Missile

Carrying a conventional warhead of 200-300 kgs, the BrahMos-ER, like its predecessor, has a cruising altitude of up to 15 km, and can also go as low as 10 metres. As it has a low radar signature and travels at supersonic speeds, it reportedly cannot be intercepted by any known weapons system till date.

The missile can be launched from sea, land or air, and the base version missile has been a part of the Indian Navy’s arsenal since 2005, the Army’s since 2007 and the Air Force’s since 2020. The Navy has the BrahMos missile in both inclined and vertical launch configurations in its ship-based weapon complex while the Army has the missile’s vertical launch configuration for mobile autonomous launchers. The Air Force, which has newly inducted these missiles, has integrated them on its Su-30MKI fighter aircraft. As per reports, extended range surface-launched versions of the missile cost $4.85 million, while the ship-based extended range missile costs approximately $11 million.

The main difference between BrahMos and BrahMos-ER is the enhanced range and indigenisation of several components of the missile. The BrahMos missile’s range was capped at 290 km to avoid violation of the norms set by the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). The MTCR, a political understanding between 35 countries to limit proliferation of missiles and missile technology, does not allow its members to transfer or aid non-members to build missiles with a range higher than 300 km. After India joined the MTCR In 2016, the BrahMos-ER missile was developed with a range of 450 km and later 600 km. The extended range missile also has a Defence Research and Development Organisation-designed indigenous seeker and booster.

BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile Testing

Founded in 1998, BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s military industrial consortium, NPO Machinostroyenia (NPOM). With an initial capital of $250 million, India holds a 50.5% stake in the venture. while Russia holds a 49.5% share. The missile itself is derived from the Russian P-800 Oniks or Yakhont missile which was first tested in the 1990s.

The first successful test of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, capable of travelling 290km, took place on May 22, 2013, when it was test-fired from from the Navy’s guided missile frigate INS Tarkash off the Goa coast. The new extended range version, designed after 2016, was first tested in 2017 by the Indian Navy. It was fired from stealth frigate INS Teg in the Bay of Bengal on March 11, 2017.

The missile’s air-launched version was successfully test fired by the Indian Air Force from a Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter aircraft against a ship target in the Bay of Bengal on December 29, 2022. Finally, the missile’s land-based version was test-fired from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands by the Indian Army on October 10, 2023.

The latest test of the missile by the Indian Navy was on January 24, 2024. The Navy successfully test-fired a ship-launched version of the missile with an ‘enhanced range.’ Issuing a statement of the test on X, the Indian Navy posted that a ‘successful engagement of a land target with an advanced supersonic cruise missile’ had been carried out, enhancing India’s precision strike capability from combat & mission ready ships.

Prior to the test, the Indian authorities had issued a no-fly zone of 240 km for January 22-23 in the Arabian Sea and for January 24-25 in a section of the Bay of Bengal spanning 900 km.

BrahMos Indigenisation Plan

As the Centre pushes for more indigenisation of its defence sector, the Indian Navy already has a 15-year plan in place to boost Indian manufacturing of weapons, including the BrahMos missile. In 1998, when the joint venture between DRDO and NPOM began, the indigenous capacity of the BrahMos project was only 13%, said Atul Dinkar Rane, CEO and Managing Director, BrahMos Aerospace. As of 2023, 75% indigenous capacity has been achieved, including manufacturing parts of the missile, spares, and checkout equipment used for testing it. Mr. Rane claimed that more than 200 Indian industries were involved in the indigenisation and that the missile project itself had created 25,000 jobs.

In 2019, DRDO had test-fired the land version of the base missile BrahMos with an Indian fuel propulsion system, power supply and other features. While DRDO already uses an indigenous seeker and booster in BrahMos-ER, the next generation missile BrahMos-NG may have an indigenous ramjet engine or propulsion system. However, Mr. Rane has ruled out 100% indigenisation of the BrahMos missile as it is a joint venture between India and Russia, thus necessitating that certain components be designed by Russia.