Brahmos

BrahMos is a family of supersonic cruise missiles developed and produced by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia's NPO Mashinostroeniya. The name combines the Brahmaputra river in India with the Moskva river in Russia. The missile is designed for precision strikes against ships, land targets, and other high-value assets. It is one of the fastest anti-ship and land-attack missiles in operation.

Development began in the 1990s as a collaboration between India and Russia; first flight occurred in 2001, and it entered service with the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force in the mid-2000s. The system employs a two-stage propulsion: a solid-fuel booster to accelerate to supersonic speed, followed by a ramjet sustainer. Typical flight is at low altitude to reduce radar cross-section and drag. It carries a warhead of roughly 200–300 kilograms and has an effective range of about 290–300 kilometers, though figures vary by variant.

BrahMos is available in air-launched, surface-launched, and submarine-launched configurations, with land-attack variants under development. The air-launched version, BrahMos-A, is deployed on aircraft such as the Sukhoi Su-30MKI; surface-launched versions equip ships and coastal batteries; submarine-launched tests have been conducted. Guidance combines inertial navigation with satellite updates and a terminal guidance system, enabling high precision against moving and fixed targets.

Operationally, BrahMos has been integrated on multiple Indian Navy ships and selected defense platforms, and the program seeks export sales to compatible customers under government-to-government arrangements.