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India's Air Force said on Tuesday that it sacked three officers for accidentally firing a BrahMos supersonic cruise missile into neighboring Pakistan in March. An official inquiry into the mishap "found that deviation from standard operating procedure by three officers led to the accidental firing of the missile," the air force said in a statement, per Reuters. The BrahMos missile is a nuclear-capable cruise missile developed jointly by Russia and India, with a range of 180 miles and Mach 3 speed capability. The accident occurred during routine maintenance when a "technical malfunction" caused the missile to fire from the garrison...

Has India Secretly Supplied Vietnam with 6,000-pound Supersonic Missiles? Vietnamese state media claim Hanoi and New Delhi not only agreed on a deal to send BrahMos supersonic projectiles to Hanoi, but also say the weapons have been delivered. India’s Ministry of External Relations, though, denies such a deal exists. When asked specifically about the acquisition of the BrahMos, Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Thi Thu Hang said on August 18 “the procurement of defense equipment by Vietnam is consistent with the policy of peace and self-defense and is the normal practice in self-defense.” India’s External Relations Ministry said reports of BrahMos...

India’s sale to Vietnam of a short-range, supersonic anti-ship missile has opened a new conflict in an already tense situation with China, an analyst said. Vietnam will receive the BrahMos which is considered one of the most effective and lethal anti-ship missiles in the world, with speeds reaching Mach 2.8 to 3.0. “About half of China’s worldwide arms exports go to one country — Pakistan, for the primary reason of ‘containing India,’ ” said Hoover Institution Fellow and Geostrategy-Direct correspondent Maochun Miles Yu in a Facebook post. “Now India is playing the same game by arming one of China’s arch...

INS Rajput firing a BrahMos missile. Wikimedia Commons/Indian Navy While many of us remain mesmerized by the unfolding shambles in the Middle East, the world’s two most populous countries have gotten into a tiff over missiles. And I’m not referring to the ballistic kind for once. “India deploying supersonic missiles on the border has exceeded its own needs for self-defense and poses a serious threat to China’s Tibet and Yunnan provinces,” complained the People’s Liberation Army Daily. “The deployment of BrahMos missile is bound to increase the competition and antagonism in the China–India relations and will have a negative impact...

India tested today an air-launched version of the BrahMos-A supersonic attack missile on an Indian Air Force (IAF) Sukhoi Su-30 MKI aircraft. The missile was not launched on this test, as the carriage flight was designed to test the weapon’s aircraft integration. Following the initial flight tests on board the Su-30 MKI aircraft the first air-launch of the BrahMos-A missile is expected later this year. If successful, this planned flight test will verify the developer’s simulations, assuring the safe separation and initiation of the missile. “A single test-fire from the aircraft will be enough. BrahMos has demonstrated its capability multiple...

China has showcased a dummy model of new CX-1 anti-ship missile at Zhuhai Air Show. Missile looks similar to Russian P-800 Oniks , its the same missile upon which Indo-Russian Brahmos cruise missile has been based . Chinese forums puts specification of the missile has Supersonic Cruise missile with range of 50 km to 290 km . Missile will be supersonic speed on all phases of flight, and will be able to use wide range of platforms (ships, submarines and land-based launchers), will have low profile flight (sea-skimming), possible use of the missile in electronic countermeasures environment and under enemy...

The supersonic Brahmos currently has a limited range of 295 kilometres, which means targets far across the border are out of reach There will soon be a more practical way of retaliating against a foreign-backed terrorist attack on Indian soil than mobilising our 1.6 million-strong military for a war that might trigger a nuclear conflagration. Instead, New Delhi will soon be able to punish terrorists harbouring across the border with surgical strikes from Brahmos cruise missile, fitted on Sukhoi-30MKI fighters. The supersonic Brahmos, jointly developed by India and Russia, already equips Indian warships and artillery units. Yet its limited range...

Looking to increase defence cooperation with India, Vietnam Communist party general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong also requested New Delhi for conversion training for Vietnamese pilots to fly Sukhoi-30 aircrafts. Vietnam formally requested India to supply the Indo-Russian BrahMos cruise missiles at a meeting in New Delhi, informed sources told RIR. The request was made when Vietnam Communist party general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong visited the Indian capital, the sources said, adding that the Southeast Asian country was looking at enhancing security cooperation with India. Informal negotiations had been going between the countries for the joint Indo-Russian missiles that are being...

India Modifies Brahmos Missile With New Nav System India has uprated its BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles by installing the advanced satellite navigation systems from Russia's Kh-555 and Kh-101 strategic long-range cruise missiles, adding GPS-GLONASS technology to the existing doppler-inertial platform, Izvestia reported on Tuesday quoting sources in the military-industrial complex. The integration of the navigation systems from Kh-555 will turn BrahMos, a supersonic cruise missile, into a "super-rocket" with almost a sub-strategic capability above its normal tactical range, capable of hitting targets over 180-300 miles (300-500 km), from sea, land and air launchers, and capable of being armed with a...

India’s Military Comes of Age: The BrahMos Missile By James R. Holmes Indians take pride in the BrahMos anti-ship cruise missile, or ASCM. I was taken aback some years ago when some Indian friends—gentle souls with little interest in military affairs—professed satisfaction at this successful venture into defense R&D.While that encounter induced some vertigo, it makes sense when you think about it. The Indian military has long been a consumer of hardware manufactured by others. By fielding the BrahMos, India in effect kicked in the door to an exclusive club of nations that design and produce high-tech defense articles. Beyond...

India to sell BrahMos missile to Vietnam Sep 20, 2011 - Sridhar Kumaraswami | DC The BrahMos Aerospace —the Indo-Russian joint venture that has developed the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile — is keen to sell the missile to Vietnam with which India is developing a strong strategic relationship, sources have confirmed. However, the Indian government’s approval will have to be taken for any such acquisition. Sources also confirmed that Vietnam is already on a list of about 15 “friendly countries” — that was decided by a joint Indo-Russian supervisory council — to whom the BrahMos missile can be sold. “Informal...

A war of words between India and Russia is threatening to delay the development of the air version of the BrahMos cruise missile, a joint effort of the two countries. Friction between the two countries mainly stems from the redesigning of the Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft to make it capable of launching a 300-kg BrahMos supersonic missile from the air. While the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) wants its Russian partner, NPO Mashinostroeyenia, to foot the bill, the latter feels that India should be financing the Sukhoi redesigning.

The air launched version of BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile system integrated with Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft on display is a major attraction at Aero India 2011. The air launched version has lesser weight and additional rear fins for aerodynamic stability during separation from the aircraft and launch. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has chosen the Su-30MKI fighter aircraft as the launch platform for the BRAHMOS missile. Some exclusive modifications are being made in the aircraft to use it as a platform for launching the missile. The test of air-launched version of BRAHMOS is expected to take place in 2012,...

Keeping Yakhont Out Of Iran September 7, 2010: Israel is trying to persuade Russia not to sell their 3M55 anti-ship missile to Syria. Israel, and many Western nations, fear that sales to Syria will actually be sales to Iran, which is under an arms embargo and cannot buy the 3M55 itself. The missile is particularly dangerous to any warship, mainly because of its size and high speed. Syria has been on the Iranian payroll for decades. Also known as Yakhont, Oniks and P-800, the 3M55 missile was further developed by India to produce the BrahMos. But the Russians used the...

BALASORE: In a first in the military world, the BrahMos cruise missile achieved a supersonic dive after being fired from a defence base in Orissa as part of the trials to fine-tune its capabilities, an official said. 'The missile flew in the designated complex trajectory conducting large manoeuvres and steep dive. This is the first time in the world that a supersonic dive has been realised by a cruise missile,' said BrahMos Aerospace spokesperson Praveen Pathak. The Indian armed forces termed it a 'perfectly precise flight', he added. The 290-km range BrahMos missile, which can travel 2.8 times the speed...

Modernising its fighter jet fleet, the Indian Air Force is going to upgrade its SU-30 MKI combat aircraft with the help of Russia. "As part of IAF's modernisation programme, we are going to upgrade 50 Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft with help of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) from Russia," Defence Ministry sources said. "Su-30 MKIs have been inducted into the IAF in four phases. The ones to be upgraded are from the first phase and the project is likely to be completed in the next three to four years," they added. Of the 50 aircraft, around five would be sent to the...

India has placed orders with the Russian defense industry to modernize Su-30MKI Flanker-H fighters produced in India under the Russian license, India Today magazine reported in its June issue, without disclosing the sum of the contract. The project codenamed Super 30 stipulates the installation of new radars, onboard computers, electronic warfare systems and BrahMos supersonic missiles on 40 Su-30MKI fighters, the magazine said. The Indian Air Force currently operates about 100 Su-30MKI fighters and plans to produce another 170 aircraft in the next 10 years under the Russian license. India has a long history of defense ties with Moscow. The...

The Indian Air Force is planning to arm its Su-30MKI fighter aircraft with 40 BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile, said Dr AS Pillai, CEO & MD BrahMos Aerospace as reported by RIA Novosti. "The inclusion of BRAHMOS cruise missile will make the aircraft unique in firepower," said Dr Pillai at the Defence Services Asia-2010 exhibition here, in an interview with the Russian news agency. He also added that the first trials of the air-launched version were set for 2011 and the first test-flight with the missile on-board are scheduled for 2012. The supersonic cruise missile has a range of 290-km and...

The Govt. of India last week finalised a Rs. 11,600 crore agreement that will pave the way for the induction of BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile into the Indian Air Force (IAF). According to a news report by the Indian Express, the induction of the cruise missile will give the IAF a cutting edge over adversaries in the region. Top sources said the multi-crore agreement with BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between the DRDO and Russian company NPOM, would enable factory production of advanced versions of the cruise missile, as per the report. BRAHMOS cruise missile can be launched from aircraft,...

The Indian Navy has successfully test-fired the BrahMos supersonic anti-ship cruise missile, the Indian-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace said on Sunday. The missile, fired from a new vertical launch pad, hit the target in the Bay of Bengal, BrahMos Aerospace said. The BrahMos missile has a range of 290 km (180 miles) and can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kg (660 lbs). It can effectively engage ground targets from an altitude as low as 10 meters (30 feet) and has a top speed of Mach 2.8, which is about three times faster than the U.S.-made subsonic Tomahawk...