Why in News?

India achieved another milestone in its defence preparedness by successfully test firing BrahMos supersonic cruise missile amidst extreme weather conditions at sea state 7 (waves as high as 9 meter with strong wind) at Balasore, odisha.

The missile was tested as part of the service life extension program for the Indian Army as it is the first missile whose life has been extended from 10 years to 15 years.

About the Missile:

Brahmos is a supersonic (app. thrice the sound of the speed) cruise missile.

It is a joint venture of DRDO of India and NPOM of Russia which has been named after two rivers Brahmaputra and Moskva (river in western Russia).

Technical specification:

• It is two stage missile where first stage is being a solid and second stage is ramjet liquid propellent.
• It is self-propelled guided missile which operates on “fire and forget principle”.
• It has low radar signature along with pin point accuracy.
• It is capable of being launched from land, sea, sub-sea and air against sea and land targets. • It carry both conventional and nuclear warhead weighing Upto 300 kg.
• It has unique feature of quicker engagement time and non-interception by any known weapon system in the world. • Its Airforce version is under developmental tests, the missile has already been inducted in the Army and the Navy. • Initially, developed for 299 km, the strike range of the weapon system has been increased to 450 km after India’s full membership to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which removed caps on range of cruise missiles.