BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile jointly developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya, through the joint venture BrahMos Aerospace. The naval variant, launched from vertical launch systems and deck-mounted inclined launchers aboard Indian Navy warships, is the primary long-range anti-ship and land-attack weapon for the Navy’s major surface combatants, and remains among the fastest operational cruise missiles in the world.[1]
The missile’s name combines the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers, symbolising the Indo-Russian partnership behind the programme. Development began in the 1990s, drawing on the Russian P-800 Oniks anti-ship missile as a technological base while incorporating substantial Indian design, guidance, and systems-integration work, making BrahMos one of the most successful bilateral defence co-development programmes either country has undertaken.
The naval variant was first inducted aboard INS Rajput in 2005, becoming the first BrahMos-armed platform in the Indian Navy. Since then, the missile has been progressively fitted to a widening range of frontline surface combatants, including the Rajput-class destroyers, Kolkata-class (Project 15A) destroyers, and Visakhapatnam-class (Project 15B) destroyers, typically carried in eight or sixteen-cell vertical launch modules positioned forward of the superstructure.[2]
BrahMos uses a two-stage propulsion system: a solid-propellant rocket booster accelerates the missile to supersonic speed before separating, after which a liquid-fuelled ramjet sustains cruise speeds of around Mach 2.8, roughly 3,900 km/h, for the remainder of the flight. This sustained supersonic cruise profile, unusual among anti-ship missiles that typically cruise subsonically and only go supersonic in the terminal phase, gives BrahMos a combination of shorter enemy reaction time and higher kinetic-impact energy on target.
The missile uses inertial navigation with multi-constellation GNSS updates for mid-course guidance, transitioning to active radar homing in the terminal phase for precision strikes against manoeuvring ships or fixed land targets. Original export and early production versions were capped at approximately 290 km range in line with India’s Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) obligations at the time. Following India’s full MTCR membership in 2016, development pushed toward extended-range variants, with the Block II Extended Range (ER) variant achieving approximately 800 km through an improved ramjet engine and enlarged fuel tank, while retaining Mach 2.8 cruise speed. In February 2024, the Indian Navy tested a BrahMos variant with an enhanced range of around 900 km, and the extended-range variant is now operationally deployed aboard INS Visakhapatnam, INS Mormugao, and INS Chennai.[3]
Beyond the ship-launched naval variant covered here, the BrahMos family includes land-based mobile launcher configurations for the Indian Army, an air-launched variant integrated onto the Su-30MKI for the Indian Air Force, and submarine-launched configurations under development, giving India a common supersonic strike missile across all three armed services and multiple launch platforms.
BrahMos gives Indian Navy surface combatants a long-range, high-speed, difficult-to-intercept strike capability against both enemy warships and land targets, forming the backbone of the fleet’s offensive punch. The missile’s continued range extension and cross-platform integration across land, sea, and air launch options makes it one of the centrepieces of India’s indigenous precision-strike capability and a flagship export product, with international sales pursued alongside continued domestic upgrades.
| Type | Supersonic Anti-Ship / Land-Attack Cruise Missile |
| Manufacturer | BrahMos Aerospace (India-Russia joint venture) |
| Speed | Mach 2.8 (~3,900 km/h) |
| Range | ~290 km (baseline); ~800-900 km (Extended Range/Block II) |
| Guidance | Inertial + GNSS mid-course; active radar terminal homing |
| Launch Platforms (Naval) | Rajput-class, Kolkata-class, Visakhapatnam-class destroyers (VLS/inclined launchers) |
| Entered Naval Service | 2005 (aboard INS Rajput) |
| Related Variants | Land-based (Army), air-launched (Su-30MKI), submarine-launched (in development) |