India has signed a new contract with Russia that settles the cooperation regarding the BrahMos missile.
With the agreement signed in 1998, New Delhi and Moscow had initially agreed for a 15-year partnership, then extended up to February 2014 earlier this year.
With this new contract, the two countries will continue to work on project as long as needed.
Brahmos is an air-to-surface supersonic cruise missile able to achieve a top speed of Mach 2.8. The missile is to be a standard armament of the navy vessels and ground forces, and a submarine variant and aircraft variant are also being developed, with the latter being pitched for Su-30MKI fighters.
Comparable to an American JASSM, BrahMos is 3 tons in weight with a 300 kg warhead. Indian Flankers will only be able to carry a single missile.
Guidance system is inertial in the first stages of flight; later the precision is ensured by a radar or GPS/GLONASS guidance.
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Range is about 300 km.
Testing is to begin next year.
A BrahMos-M miniaturized version is also being developed, and it is planned to enter service in 2017 at the earliest. The mini version is expected to weigh 1,500 kg and a Su-30 should be able to carry 2-3 of them.
The weapon is also to be integrated with the MiG-29s and Rafales.
Image Credit: defense-update.com
Jacek Siminski for TheAviationist
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