A BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successfully test-fired from the Indian Navy’s frontline guided missile destroyer INS Mormugao.

INS Mormugao successfully hit target during her maiden BrahMos supersonic cruise missile firing.

BrahMos missile

• BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd, an India-Russian joint venture, produces supersonic cruise missiles that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land platforms.

• BrahMos evolved out of the joint efforts of Indian and Russian scientists, under the joint venture company BrahMos Aerospace, DRDO and NPO Mashinostroyenia of Russia along with a consortium of Indian and Russian industries.

• The company came into existence consequent to an inter-governmental agreement signed between the two countries in February 1998. 

• The acronym BrahMos is perceived as the confluence of two great nations represented by two great rivers — Brahmaputra of India and River Moskva of Russia.

• The modular design of the missile and its capability of being launched at different orientations enables it to be integrated with a wide spectrum of platforms like warships, submarines and different types of aircraft.

• It operates on fire-and-forget principle, adopting varieties of flights on its way to the target. Its destructive power is enhanced due to large kinetic energy on impact. 

• BrahMos missile flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound.

• India is also exporting the BrahMos missiles. In January, India sealed a $375 million deal with the Philippines for supplying three batteries of the missile.

Features of INS Mormugao:

• The ship is among the largest destroyers constructed in India. 

• It is 163 metres long and 17 metres wide with displacement of 7,400 tonnes when fully loaded and has a maximum speed of 30 knots.

• The overall indigenous content of the project is approximately 75 per cent. 

• The destroyer is armed with supersonic BrahMos surface-to-surface missiles and Barak-8 long range surface-to-air missiles.

• For undersea warfare, it is fitted with indigenously developed anti-submarine weapons and sensors, prominently the hull-mounted Sonar Humsa NG, heavy weight Torpedo Tube Launchers and ASW Rocket Launchers.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store