BrahMos Cruise Missile

[Triton]

I hadn't understood head and tail of you post triton, are you saying that Vice Chief of staff has just said out of his whims and fancies?

No not exactly, just have a look at the news articles from different sources; none of them have any clear details of the tests result. All I said was I would love to see a detailed report of all the tests and orders for the missiles from Army. If the chief had any technical data of the test to share with us then the news would have been a clear conformation.

 

[Pintu]

According to The Press Trust of India , Army said that induction process of new version of BrahMos missile will begin soon.

The link and the report from The Press Trust of India are as follows:

http://www.ptinews.com/pti\ptisite.nsf/0/B38920E18A38B1BB65257589004A0EF8?OpenDocument

Army: Process of inducting new version BrahMos to begin soon



New Delhi, Mar 30 (PTI) Declaring that the process of inducting a new version of BrahMos would begin soon, Army today said the trials of the cruise missile were aimed at testing the effectiveness of a special sensor for accurately hitting targets in an urban environment.
"Accuracy was the watchword. We had wanted them to include another sensor (in the missile). That is what these last three trials (were about). Because more than the naval version, in the Army, we wanted the missile to distinguish between similar kind of targets in urban areas. So this third test has been extremely successful," Army vice chief Lt Gen Noble Thamburaj told reporters here.

The process of inducting the new Block-II land attack version of the 290-km range missile would begin soon, he said.

"The process (of induction) will now start. Because now after carrying out the three field trials, the army is absolutely satisfied," he said on the sidelines of a seminar on Fire Power organised by Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS).

Congratulating the DRDO scientists and the BrahMos Corporation for the success, Thamburaj said the Army had enhanced its aspirations on the capability of the BrahMos weapons system as it wanted greater lethality and accuracy.

Noting that the Army was currently compiling the test reports, he said the missile system provided "tremendous scope and opportunity" for the force. PTI

 

[LETHALFORCE]

this Brahmos block 2 is deadlier than ever some features:
1)mid flight course change
2)MACH 6 speed
3)Distinguishing targets and buildings
4)higher kinetic energy impact 4-8 times the kinetic force of Brahmos original version

there is no cruise missile in the world that comes close to the lethality of the mighty Brahmos it is a real beast and putting a nuke warhead would make it terrifying.

 

[Blitz]

Indian Army to Begin BrahMos Cruise Missile Induction Process

Declaring that the process of inducting a new version of BrahMos would begin soon, Army today said the trials of the cruise missile were aimed at testing the effectiveness of a special sensor for accurately hitting targets in an urban environment.

"Accuracy was the watchword. We had wanted them to include another sensor (in the missile). That is what these last three trials (were about). Because more than the naval version, in the Army, we wanted the missile to distinguish between similar kind of targets in urban areas. So this third test has been extremely successful," Army vice chief Lt Gen Noble Thamburaj told reporters here.

The process of inducting the new Block-II land attack version of the 290-km range missile would begin soon, he said.

"The process (of induction) will now start. Because now after carrying out the three field trials, the army is absolutely satisfied," he said on the sidelines of a seminar on Fire Power organised by Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS).

Congratulating the DRDO scientists and the BrahMos Corporation for the success, Thamburaj said the Army had enhanced its aspirations on the capability of the BrahMos weapons system as it wanted greater lethality and accuracy.

Noting that the Army was currently compiling the test reports, he said the missile system provided "tremendous scope and opportunity" for the force.

 

[shiv]

Noting that the Army was currently compiling the test reports, he said the missile system provided "tremendous scope and opportunity" for the force.

and also an opportunity for further development

 

[Singh]

Why BrahMos failed

Brahmos missiles on display at the Army Day parade in New Delhi on January 15.

SUCCESS stories at the Defence Research and Development Organisation are occasionally interspersed with failure. An experiment on January 20 was one such.

The supersonic cruise missile BrahMos missed the target at the Army’s range at Pokhran in Rajasthan because its global positioning system (GPS) blanked out, said DRDO officials. The American satellites that run the GPS had been switched off on the day Barack Obama was sworn in the United States President, they said. The missile, therefore, travelled for 112 seconds instead of the slated 84 seconds and fell 7 km away from the target.

The officials could not say whether the Americans had deliberately switched off the GPS satellites to test whether India’s missile mission would be a success without them. They conceded that it was possible to switch off GPS-linked satellites selectively. The failure of the mission, therefore, has underlined the need for India to have its own GPS-linked satellites instead of depending on American or Russian constellations, said an official.

BrahMos, jointly developed by India and Russia, is essentially an anti-ship missile. It can hit targets 290 km away, and can cruise at a particular altitude at Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound). BrahMos is the only missile in the world, according to the DRDO, that can hit targets both in sea and on land, without any change in its hardware; only the software in the missile’s computer has to be changed.

Officials of the DRDO described the January 20 mission as a difficult one because the target was just 50 km away instead of the normal 290 km. The missile, launched in a land-attack mode, had to hit a particular target out of a cluster of targets. The Army insisted that the error in hitting the target, which resembled a chemical weapons factory, could not exceed one metre. Reflectors had been installed to mislead the missile.

The DRDO, therefore, made a new seeker for the missile to meet this challenge. A software was developed with a new algorithm, which was to help the missile reach the target by using the GPS data obtained from the U.S. satellites. The mission demanded that the missile’s inertial navigation system (INS), its GPS receiver and its seeker should all work together.

But there were constraints on the mission. A DRDO official said: “When the missile is flying very fast, it is difficult to perform manoeuvres…. The GPS data did not come in time, so the INS data with its uncorrected error was taken as the reference and we missed the target.”

A repeat mission on March 4, with the American GPS-linked satellites turned on, was a success.

http://www.frontlineonnet.com/stories/20090410260704400.htm

 

[HellFiReD]

As from the article above BRAHMOS relies on gps for homing on its target.The missiles becomes useless if US decides not to let INDIA use its GPS services in times of war.I was under the impression that we were using Russian GPS i.e.Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS).How come US got involved in such a major project that involves Russia??

 

[A.V.]

india is infact party to the russian glonass and not the gps system i think they will shift the dependency on gps to glonass soon as india is yet to launch the quota of 3satellites necessary for the glonass to function properly.once it is done and glonass is fully developed the navigation system will be changed to glonass.

 

[Payeng]

india is infact party to the russian glonass and not the gps system i think they will shift the dependency on gps to glonass soon as india is yet to launch the quota of 3satellites necessary for the glonass to function properly.once it is done and glonass is fully developed the navigation system will be changed to glonass.

There are reports that India would launch its own navigation satellites the IRNSS which have been approved by GoI in May '06 it is intended to be completed and implemented by 2012(though God only knows). I think Indian military hardwares will be dependent on its own navigation satellites soon since GLONASS may also prove to be unreliable during hostile situations.

 

[Triton]

BrahMos ready for induction: Army

NEW DELHI: The Army on Monday gave the green signal for the induction of the new version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, which has been developed to act as a precision-strike weapon in a "clustered urban environment''.

Army vice-chief Lt-Gen Noble Thamburaj said the third test of the 290-km-range BrahMos Block-II missile, the first test of which had failed on January 20, at Pokhran on Sunday had been analyzed to be "extremely successful''.

"Accuracy was the watchword. We had wanted them (BrahMos Aerospace
) to include a new sensor in the missile. That is what these last three trials were all about. Because more than the naval version, in Army, we wanted the missile to distinguish between similar kind of targets in urban areas,'' he said.

"The process of induction will now start. After carrying out the three field trials, the Army is absolutely satisfied,'' he added, on the sidelines of a seminar organised by Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS).

Both Army and Navy are already inducting the BrahMos Block-I missiles. While Army has ordered two BrahMos regiments in the first phase at a cost of Rs 8,352 crore, with 134 missiles, 10 road-mobile autonomous launchers on 12x12 Tatra vehicles and four mobile command posts, the Navy has ordered 49 BrahMos firing units at a cost of Rs 711 crore.

Pointing out the importance of "firepower'' during combat, Lt-Gen Thamburaj said the missile's "accuracy, lethality and range'' made it "a deadly combination''.

The Army vice-chief said it was important to possess both short and long-range artillery weapon systems because the battlefield was "no longer linear''. "We got to apply our firepower on targets in depth with our special forces operating there during battle. So, longer range weapons give the commander greater flexibility,'' he added.

As reported earlier, the eventual plan of armed forces is to have nuclear-tipped land-attack cruise missiles with strike ranges in excess of 1,500 km.

 

[nitesh]

hmmm interesting guys, and triton thanks now hope the doubts are clear

Guys the BrahMos is deadly mmmmmmm dealier sorry I can't figure out the right word please help me
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090404/jsp/frontpage/story_10772683.jsp

Missile Man pierces army apathy
How a tenacious technocrat put the supersonic BrahMos back on track
SUJAN DUTTA AND G.S. MUDUR

New Delhi, April 3: India can stake claim to be among the first in the world to be ready with a supersonic land-attack cruise missile because of the tenacity of an unheralded Missile Man whose pet project was almost written off for aiming too high. {Hail the director}

Sivathanu Pillai, a technocrat whose bald pate is not covered by berets, whose chest is bereft of medals and shoulders of epaulettes, dared the Indian Army by claiming he would arm its artillery divisions with a missile the world had not seen.

The army is led by an artillery officer, General Deepak Kapoor, who wanted to see this wonder weapon himself.

So he led a team to the Pokharan desert range on January 20. The general witnessed the dismal failure of the BrahMos Mark II personally.

Yet, in the space of just over two months, Pillai produced a missile — a supersonic cruise missile for the army — through three rapid-fire tests that left the generals gasping for its uniqueness, for its speed and for Pillai’s sheer grit.

Pillai has made the BrahMos Land Attack Cruise Missile Mark II real despite opposition from the Indian Army that kept upping its demands and reducing the size of the targets in the tests.

The first target was the size of a factory, the second, also a factory the size of a large building and the third, a small building in a simulated urban cluster. The missile was tasked to hit the factory in the first two tests. In the third test, it was to discriminate, select and choose its target before destroying it.

Pillai’s BrahMos missed the first. The mission was aborted after the missile went off-target mid-course despite a successful launch on January 20 when the army chief was witness.

After the second test, on March 4, seen by deputy army chief Lt Gen M.S. Dadwal, Pillai said it was a success but the army said it was “evaluating and analysing” the results even three days after the test.

“The missile was in the target area all right,” Gen Kapoor said of the test. “But there has been one failure (on January 20) so we need confirmation and there are some technical issues.”

Then on March 29 — just last week — Pillai requested the army to send a team to witness another test. The director general of military operations, Lt Gen A.S. Sekhon, led a team.

This time, the army put up just a sheet as a target with reflectors on two sides to deflect the missile from its trajectory.

Pillai’s BrahMos hit bull’s eye. Without waiting for official word from the army this time, Pillai went public, proclaiming its success.

“In 15 minutes flat,” he put it simply in his chamber inside the headquarters of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in an interview to The Telegraph, “your enemy country can be destroyed and you do not even have to go nuclear.”

Pillai is the chief executive officer and the head of the Indo-Russian BrahMos, an acronym from the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers. He is also the chief controller for armaments, land and naval systems in the DRDO.

“In the Iraq war, the US launched 1,000 Tomahawks in half a day,” he recalled. “You have to think on that scale. And the BrahMos is supersonic. It cannot be intercepted. Even we cannot do anything to it, once we launch it. Fire and forget. You think of the missile in hundreds, thousands, like you think of many, many arrows being fired from a quiver,” he said.

Two other known supersonic land-attack cruise missiles under development are the Fasthawk, made by Boeing in the US, and the French ANS. China also has a supersonic missile programme.

The BrahMos is ready.

Then why did the Indian Army open itself to suggestions that it was not keen on the project? Clear-cut answers won’t be available to such questions. But the army has been seeing demonstrations of missiles by Raytheon Corporation. A section of the army’s artillery officers has been impressed by it.

A piece of history that DRDO’s scientists are familiar with was in danger of being repeated: was another indigenous, rather, a semi-indigenous military programme going to be sacrificed in the interest of imports? And to the benefit of middlemen who would earn fat commissions? All in the name of national security? And national interest?

But this week — soon after Pillai’s third test — the vice-chief of army staff, Lt Gen Noble Thamburaj, announced at a seminar: “The BrahMos Mark II is ready for induction. The missile’s accuracy, lethality and range have made it a deadly combination.”

The army is now ready to raise two regiments of the BrahMos Mark II.

(What powers BrahMos Mark II — to be published in The Telegraph 7Days on Sunday)

I request TT members to guide us jingos so that we can know more of how this will be used. Delta sir, waiting...........................

 

[Pintu]

Here is another one from The Telegraph by Sujan Dutta.

The link and the article from The Telegraph follows:

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090405/jsp/frontpage/story_10776641.jsp


Army on board, navy at sea
SUJAN DUTTA

New Delhi, April 4: Missile Man Sivathanu Pillai’s successful rapid-fire demonstrations of the BrahMos have scuttled a move in the army to import the Tomahawk or its clones and it is now set to order 260 of the home-grown weapons system.

A missile race is currently intensifying in South Asia — though both India and Pakistan deny it — and the militaries of both countries are trying to outdo each other in the acquisition of ordnance delivery systems.

India’s army chief, General Deepak Kapoor, is now in France. French firm MBDA is a supplier of different categories of missiles to India’s army, navy and air force.

Although the Indian Army has finally been awed by Pillai’s Mark II version of the BrahMos, the Indian Navy has been overtaken by the pace of the technology that Pillai’s outfit has set. It cannot spare a single one from its ageing fleet of submarines for BrahMos to test the underwater version of the missile.

The army has raised one regiment (numbered 861) of the BrahMos Mark I that has an inferior quality of seeker or homing device. Now two separate missile regiments of the BrahMos Mark II, which has a seeker that can discriminate and zero in on a small target in an urban clutter, will be raised and are likely to be numbered 862 and 863.

The BrahMos cruise missile regiments follow the raisings of the 333, 444 and 555 Prithvi and Agni II ballistic missile regiments. Each of the two new BrahMos cruise missile regiments would have between four and six batteries of three to four Mobile Autonomous Launchers that can be connected to a general mobile command post.

Pillai is now negotiating the order for the BrahMos Mark II with the army that could total between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 crore. The deliveries of the missiles may be staggered for about 10 years after user trials.

The user trials would involve actual test-firings of the missile by the army to practise using the missile in tougher-than warlike scenarios because the Pokhran desert range (maximum length 52km) does not allow the BrahMos to be tested to its full range of 290km.

“Sometimes, technology sets a pace that the armed forces cannot absorb,” Pillai told The Telegraph. “If we get the support of the users (the armed forces), it becomes much easier. Right now we are facing problems with the navy.”

A submarine-launched missile has the supreme advantage of concealment. But the navy cannot spare even one of the 13 submarines in its fleet for Pillai to test the underwater version of the BrahMos. Pillai says testing the missile from a pontoon to simulate a submarine under water will not suffice.

The missile and its launcher would have to be integrated vertically — the picture that he draws is like a long snorkel — on the submarine.

Pillai says the navy’s Kilo-class (Russian-origin) submarines are not built to last long enough for the capability.

Even the French-origin Scorpene submarines that were ordered in 2006 and are now being built in France and co-developed in Mumbai’s Mazagon Docks are not configured for the BrahMos — a crucial failure when the contract for the submarines was drawn up.

So Pillai will have to wait till a subsequent contract for six additional submarines is drawn up before he can move his submarine-version BrahMos from the drawing board to the test-bed.

But most of the navy’s ships are being configured for the BrahMos either in India or in Russia. The INS Kolkata, a 7,000-tonne stealth destroyer being built in Mumbai, would have the BrahMos has its main weapons system.

The Indian Air Force has allotted two Sukhoi 30 Mki aircraft in which the air-to-air ! and air-to-ground versions of the BrahMos are being configured. Pillai expects the air force version of the missile to be ready by 2011.

MOD EDIT: Pintu sorry I just edited your post. I just wanted to highlight the crucial points.

Guys what is this air to air version? DDM I suppose

 

[A.V.]

Lab trials for the hypersonic brahmos already started

BrahMos Aerospace, the Indo-Russian joint venture, has embarked on initiatives to go in for hypersonic versions of missiles, a top official of the company said.
“Having successfully inducted supersonic versions, which can travel at 2.8 Mach (2.8 times the speed of sound), plans are on to go in for hypersonic versions, which can touch Mach 5 or 7,” chief executive officer and MD of the company, Dr.A. Sivathanu Pillai, said.
He said that fuel for these versions would be a combination of aviation kerosene and atmospheric air,mixed at a proportionate volume.
“The resultant propulsion thrust could be so heavy that a missile could be projected at terrific speed,” he said.
Pillai said that lab tests had already commenced and that modules for these versions would be ready by 2010. The test missiles would be flown over rocket motors injected into space.
“After the successful ‘Block II test´ last week, the company and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had fulfilled all parameters prescribed by Army and was poised to go in for mass production for inducting these into the Army. As Naval ships are all equipped with BrahMos missiles, the next focus would be to address the needs of the Indian Air Force (IAF),” he said.
He hoped the final induction of the air version of BrahMos missile to IAF would take place before the end of 2012


http://www.idrw.org/2009/04/05/brahmos_to_go_in_for_hypersonic_versions_of_missiles.html

 

[nitesh]

Isn't one lab test is already conducted last year invi? Was for 7 seconds

 

[SATISH]

Yes it was successful..

 

[SATISH]

Bhramos to be inducted in IAF by 2012...ANI report


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjl3r5xRjhI&feature=player_embedded

 

[nitesh]

The Hindu News Update Service

BrahMos attracts buyers at Latin American defence expo

New Delhi (IANS): A joint military product of India and Russia, the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile has impressed countries at the recently concluded Latin American defence expo held in Brazil, with at least three nations showing keen interest in buying the missile system, a senior official said.

At the Latin America Aero and Defence expo organised at Rio de Janeiro April 14-17, defence officials from Brazil, Chile and South Africa thronged the stall of BrahMos.

"Brazil, Chile and South Africa have shown interest in the shore-based and ship-based versions of the missile," a senior official of BrahMos Aerospace Ltd., told IANS.

India had shown the footage of the successful March 29 trial of the 32-tonne {decimal is missing}missile with a range of 290 km. The missile had hit the "bull's eye" during the trial.

The defence minister of Brazil, South Africa's army chief and senior defence officials of Chile wanted more information about the missile.

"The officials were particularly keen to know more about the ship-based version of the missile," the official said. He was also at the defence expo.

India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has recently conducted successful vertical launch of the missile in the Bay of Bengal.

"The speed of the missile also impressed them," the official said.

The missile, which takes its name from the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers, has a 300-km range and carries a 300-kg conventional warhead. It can achieve speeds of up to 2.8 Mach or nearly three times the speed of sound.

Cruise missiles fly at low altitudes and have the ability to evade enemy radars and air-defence systems. They are also easier and cheaper to operate.

Each missile system costs nearly Rs.100 million ($2 million) and the BrahMos Aerospace Ltd plans to sell 1,000 of them.

The Indian Army has already begun inducting the land-fired version of the BrahMos, with the first battery entering service in June 2007. Each battery is equipped with four mobile launchers mounted on heavy 12x12 Tatra transporters.

The army plans to induct three more such batteries.

The anti-ship naval version has also been inducted into service with its integration on the destroyer INS Rajput, with two other ships of the same class to be similarly equipped.

The missiles will also be mounted on the three 7,000-tonne Kolkata class destroyers currently being constructed at Mumbai's Mazagon docks.

 

[SATISH]

I hope Brazillians go for Bhramos along with an order of a aircraft carrier with it. And a compliment of LCA with it will be great.

 

[sayareakd]

i personally think that Brahmos has to go more then 300KM, Since it cannot, therefore only option is to increase its speed or accurracy or both, Brahmos corporation is working on both, still their is limit what can be achive by this joint corporation by Russia and India.

For the future Brahmos range has to be increase by hook or crook, only then future versions will be inducted in large numbers, since the MTCR at present cap such missile therefore PJ 10 under brahmos corporation is not good idea, DRDO has to come up with its own version of Brahmos.

other option should be to have platform like ship, subs, fighters and other carriers which can carry brahmos close to target and then launch it.

but in long run it is better to go for home grown version, Akash missile is ideal platform to go for this kind of missile.

 

[nitesh]

Guys check the latest vayu article. MKI will be able to carry 3 BrahMos as opposed to earlier conflicting reports of one/three

one in the weapon station between engine nacelles.

other two in the innermost wing pylons.