In the first export order for the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system, the Philippines has approved a $374.96 mn contract for the purchase of a shore-based anti-ship variant of the missile from India.

About BrahMos Missile

• BrahMos missile derives its name from the combination of the names of Brahmaputra and Moskva Rivers.
•  They are designed, developed and produced by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture company set up by DRDO and Mashinostroyenia of Russia.
• It is a two-stage missile with a solid propellant booster as the first stage and liquid ramjet as the second stage.
• The cruise missiles like BrahMos are a type of system known as the ‘standoff range weapons’ which are fired from a range sufficient to allow the attacker to evade defensive fire from the adversary.
• Such weapons are in the arsenal of most major militaries in the world.

Its capability

• BrahMos missile flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound.
• It is the main weapon system of the Indian Navy warships and has been deployed on almost all of its surface platforms.
• An underwater version is also being developed which will not only be used by the submarines of India but will also be offered for export to friendly foreign nations.

Various versions

• The versions of the BrahMos that are being tested have an extended range of around 400 km, as compared to its initial range of 290 km, with more versions of higher ranges currently under development.
• Various versions including those which can be fired from land, warships, submarines and Sukhoi-30 fighter jets have already been developed and successfully tested in the past.
• The earliest versions of the ship launched BrahMos and land-based system are in service of the Indian Navy and the Indian Army since 2005 and 2007 respectively.

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