Brahmos Block- III missile successfully test-fired by Indian Army in Andaman & Nicobar Islands; key facts to know

The Brahmo Block-III, the supersonic cruise missile successfully hit the land-based target with desired precision in a “top attack configuration”

New Delhi, May 3: Indian Army successfully test-fired Brahmos Block- III missile from Andaman & Nicobar Islands on Tuesday. The Army launched the advanced version of the Brahmos land-attack cruise missile from a mobile autonomous launcher (MAL). A senior Army officer, while speaking to PTI, the successful launch of the Brahmos Block-III missile demonstrated the weapon’s unmatched lethality of hitting the centre of a designated target with “bull’s eye” precision.

According to a PTI report, the Brahmo Block-III, the supersonic cruise missile successfully hit the land-based target with desired precision in a “top attack configuration”, meeting all flight parameters in a copybook manner. The launch involved high level and complex manoeuvering by the missile. The test-fire conducted on Tuesday was the fourth successive successful launch of the Block -III version of BRAHMOS LACM. The first test-fire of the advanced supersonic cruise missile Brahmos was conducted on April 22 by Indian Navy.

• The Brahmos missile is developed by a joint-venture between Russia’s Mashinostroyenia and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• The Brahmos cruise missile is based on the Russian P-800 Oniks cruise missile and other similar sea-skimming Russian cruise missile technology.
• The missile travels at speeds of Mach 2.8 to 3.0. It is the world’s fastest anti-ship cruise missile in operation.
• The BrahMos-A is a modified air-launched variant of the missile which will arm the Su-30MKI of the air force as a standoff weapon.
• The BrahMos-II is a hypersonic cruise missile. Like the BrahMos, the range of BrahMos II has also been limited to 290 km to comply with the MTCR.
• The land attack version of BrahMos has been operationalised in the Indian Army since 2007.

After India became a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in 2016, India and Russia are now planning to jointly develop a new generation of Brahmos missiles with 600 km-plus range and an ability to hit protected targets with pinpoint accuracy.