Onyx and BrahMos: The Deadly Missile
Duet
These Mach 2.9 identical Russian and Indian twins are instant
death to any warship stupid enough to get within range. Both ramjet missiles
approach their targets at only 20 feet altitude, thereby denying Phalanx and
other western defense systems any time to respond at all.
The Hindu, 16 April 2005
Lethal Coalition: Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulates Indian Ambassador Kanwal Sibal on the brilliant success of the BrahMos, an Indian-built version of the Russian Onyx anti-ship missile. attack, Putin has ensured distribution of these missiles to the nations of the largest economic and military coalition on earth: Russia, China, India and Brazil.
CHENNAI: BrahMos has scored a perfect ten out of ten. The 10th flight of BrahMos,
the supersonic cruise missile jointly developed by India and Russia, which took
place on Friday in a ship-to-ship mode was "a hundred per cent success."
The missile took off from the Naval vessel INS Rajput sailing in the Arabian
off the western coast and pulverised a decommissioned naval ship.
Helicopter pilots saw the debris of the target floating in the sea. This was
the first time that BrahMos was equipped with a live warhead and the flight
took place in the combat-mode of the Navy.
Officials connected with the flight described it as "a grand finale"
to the Naval exercises conducted off the western coast.
The event signals that the production of the missile for the Navy has started.
All production facilities in India and Russia are totally geared up for producing
enough number of missiles . "The process of induction of BrahMos into the
Navy has started. That is why today's launch took place in combat-firing mode.
This year, one Naval ship will be fitted with the missile. Next year, another
one will be equipped with it," informed sources said.
BrahMos is essentially an anti-ship supersonic cruise missile that flies at
a speed of 2.8 to 3 Mach (2.8 to three times the speed of sound). It can take
out targets 290 km away.
The flight took place at 8.15 a.m. from the INS Rajput on Friday.
It was watched by Admiral Arun Prakash, Chief of Naval Staff; A. Sivathanu Pillai,
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, BrahMos Aerospace, which manufactures
the missile in India; Vice-Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff;
Rear Admiral Pratap Singh Byce , Flag Officer Commanding, Western Fleet and
other top Naval officers.
Dr. Pillai called the perfect flight "a big milestone from the point of
view of the Navy and we could see the devastating power of the missile against
the target."
The targeted ship went to pieces because of the power of the missile and its
kinetic energy from its supersonic speed.
BrahMos is a versatile missile that can be launched from silos on land, big
trucks, ships, aircraft and submarine. Work has started on developing the missile
to be launched from aircraft.
Out of 10 BrahMos flights so far, four including Friday's were from a ship towards
another ship.
The earlier three flights in the ship-to-ship mode took place in the Bay of
Bengal off the eastern coast. This is the first time it took place in the Arabian
Sea.