Supersonic cruise missile BrahMos on Sunday reportedly failed to provide the desired results during an experimental launch from a defence base off the Odisha coast. This was the 32nd trial of the missile which has already been inducted into the Army and the Navy.
The missile was test-fired by scientists of DRDO and BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited (BAPL) from launching complex-III of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur-on-Sea in Balasore district at about 10.35 am. Sources said the missile deviated from the its trajectory and plunged into the Bay of Bengal. “The missile, which set off vertically, could not follow the trajectory and plunged into the sea after travelling nearly 23 km. The steep dive was not perfect as coordinated and the mission failed to meet all parameters. It was not a copybook success,” the sources added.
The defence authorities, however, claimed that the mission was successful. ITR Director M V K V Prasad said it was an experimental trial of the BrahMos land version and the test was perfect. “The test was carried in steep dive mode and it met all mission objectives,” he said, but refused to divulge the details.
Jointly developed by India and Russia, the 8.4-metre long missile can hit a target at a distance up to 290 km. The missile can travel at thrice the speed of sound. It is a two-stage missile weighing 3.9 tonnes with the canister. It can carry a conventional warhead weighing around 300 kg. The missile can fly up to a height of 14 km when fired from a ship. It has a preset trajectory and could change its course to strike a target from a distance of 20 km. Sources said the objective of the mission was to evaluate some new subsystems which have been manufactured by Indian industries as part of production stabilisation. The experimentation was aimed at testing at least two dozen new systems, including the power systems, materials for airframe components, guidance system, inertial navigation system, electric and electronics sub-systems.
“Earlier, we used to incorporate most of the Russian systems in the BrahMos missile. But this time, all Indian systems were put to trial. All the data have been collected and are being examined to validate the performances of the new systems,” the sources added.
The sophisticated world class BrahMos cruise missile is capable of being launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, silos and land-based Mobile Autonomous Launchers (MAL). It works on ‘fire and forget’ principle. It is the only supersonic cruise missile in the world which can surprise the enemy with its speed, power and precision. It has no equivalent, claims DRDO.
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