Now, work underway for hypersonic cruise missile

JODHPUR: The success of BrahMos-I, world's first and only operational supersonic cruise missile developed in an Indo-Russian joint venture, has paved the way for developing a hypersonic cruise missile, BrahMos-II. Work is already underway for developing another version for cruising at Mach 5 speed (five times the speed of sound), as compared to the current Mach 2.8.
Chief of BrahMos Aerospace, Dr Sudhir Mishra, in a telephonic conversation with the TOI said, "it shall take 3-4 years for developing the BrahMos version that can cruise at Mach 5 speed, almost double the current version".
Mishra said that while the current engine was being upgraded for the hypersonic versions of future, it shall take up to 7-10 years for developing a new hypersonic engine. When quizzed about the possibility of exporting the BrahMos to other countries, he said that whenever a government nod or decision comes along, they are ready to fulfil all commitments.
"For exporting defence equipment, the decision has to be taken by the government as is the norm all over the world. However, BrahMos is being admired by many countries," he said. On being asked about possibility of another similar endeavour between India and Russia, he said that there was no such plan on the cards right now.
If the official sources are to be believed, more than a dozen countries have expressed interest in buying variants of this 'uninterceptable' supersonic cruise missile.
While for the export, a fine-tuning from both the governments would be required, the Russian counterparts of BrahMos have been vocal about the interest shown by various countries in BrahMos supersonic cruise missile which has demonstrated its supreme operational capability during test fires of the Army.
box
Onto the next level
Hypersonic version of BrahMos to cruise at Mach 5, twice the speed of current version
BrahMos right now are the supersonic cruise missiles with a range of 290-km and a cruising speed of Mach 2.8
BrahMos has been developed with a major contribution from private sector industries
BRAHMOS is capable of being launched from land, sea, sub-sea and air against sea and land targets
BrahMos is a joint venture between DRDO of India and NPOM of Russia.
BrahMos was setup with a 50.5% funding from India and 49.5% Russia and has already made profits, much more than the set up cost