India Successfully launcehes BrahMos Missile:Missile reached the flat trajectory

India’s BrahMos supersonic cruise missile launched on Sunday from the Integrated Test Range at the Chandibur, Orissa. The missile performed a steep dive at a supersonic speed.

After BrahMos rose from its launch pad at Chandipur, Orissa and reached a flat trajectory, it suddenly dived vertically with its engine running in full throttle. The missile performed the maneuver when it was flying at a velocity of three times the speed of sound. Normally, a missile comes down gradually.

This is a new capability that has been proved in BrahMos, which is a product of the Indo-Russian collaboration. The launch took place from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO).

Important Mission

“It was an important mission. For the first time in the world, a cruise missile was tested at a supersonic speed in a steep-dive mode,” said A. Sivathanu Pillai, Chief Executive Officer, BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited. “When you launch a missile, it goes up and reaches a flat trajectory. In this case, the BrahMos missile dove straight down from its flat trajectory” while it was cruising at a supersonic speed, he explained.

It was a difficult maneuver to achieve but the missile did it.

Naval ships, positioned in the Bay of Bengal, gathered telemetry data during the terminal phase of the missile’s flight. “Besides, a host of telemetry stations were used to collect full information on the maneuver. Everything went well,” said Dr. Pillai. This was BrahMos’ 23rd flight.

Well Planned and executed

P. Venugopalan, Director, Defense Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad, described it as “a fantastic mission that was well-planned and executed.” The missile performing “a steep dive at a supersonic speed is a new capability we have proved. We went for the full range [of 290 km],” he said. The DRDL is a missile complex that comes under the DRDO and the DRDL designs and develops a variety of missiles.

Defense Minister A.K. Antony congratulated the BrahMos missile team. The Director-General of Artillery, Lt. Gen. Vinod Nayanar and the Additional Director-General of Artillery, Maj. Gen. P.K. Chakravarty, witnessed the flight at Chandipur. Lt. Gen. Nayanar congratulated the BrahMos team on the successful mission and said he was happy that the missile flawlessly performed the maneuver.
The two-stage BrahMos is nine metres long, has a diameter of 70cm and weighs 3.9 tonnes with the canister. It carries conventional warheads weighing 300 kg.

Work is under way to realise a hypersonic version of the missile under BrahMos-II programme. It will be a joint-venture between India and Russia.

-Asian Tribune-