BrahMos II Hypersonic Cruise Missile

BrahMos II is a hypersonic cruise missile that has been lab tested with a speed of Mach 5.26 that will make it the fastest cruise missile in the world beating Brahmos 1. BrahMos II land variant design has been completed and 4 Land to Land test variants are ready to be tested. The rest variants testing will be completed in the successive years of 2012-13 and design must by completed within October 2011 and will arm the Project 15B destroyers of the Indian Navy.In russian navy project 21956 perspective destroyers are most likely to aquire BrahMos II.

BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. It is a joint venture between Republic of India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO-Bangalore) and Russian Federation's NPO Mashinostroeyenia who have together formed BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited. It is the world's fastest cruise missile in operation.

The name BrahMos is a portmanteau formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia. The missile travels at speeds of Mach 2.8 to 3.0. It is about three-and-a-half times faster than the USA's subsonic Harpoon cruise missile. An Air launched variant is also planned which is expected to come out in 2012 and will make India the only country with supersonic missiles in all the defence forces. A hypersonic version of the missile is also presently under development (Lab Tested with 5.26 Mach Speed).

Though India had wanted the BrahMos to be based on a mid range cruise missile, namely P-700 Granit, instead Russia opted for the shorter range sister of the missile, P-800 Oniks, in order to comply with MTCR restrictions, to which Russia is a signatory. Its propulsion is based on the Russian missile, and guidance has been developed by BrahMos Corp. The missile is expected to reach a total order worth of US$13 billion.

BrahMos
Type	Cruise missile
Place of origin	India/Russia
Service history
In service	November 2006
Used by	Indian Army Indian Navy Indian Airforce (awaiting)
Production history
Manufacturer	Joint venture, Federal State Unitary Enterprise NPO Mashinostroeyenia (Russia) and Defense Research and Development Organization (BrahMos Corp, India)
Unit cost	US$ 2.73 million
Specifications
Weight	3000 kg 2500 kg (air-launched)
Length	8.4 m
Diameter	0.6 m
Warhead	300 kg Conventional semi-armour-piercing
Engine	Two-stage integrated Rocket/Ramjet
Operational range	290 km
Speed	Mach 2.8-3.0, BrahMos II: Mach 5.26
Launch platform	Ship, submarine, aircraft and land-based mobile launchers.