To some, the rise of India as a modern military power is a little surprising. The country that gave the world Mahatma Gandhi and his teachings of nonviolence has arguably built up the second-most-powerful military in Asia.
One of the reasons India arguably ranks so highly is the fact that they’ve developed a number of weapons, either completely on their own or in cooperation with other nations. One of India’s closest partners in development is Russia.
At the end of the Cold War, Russia’s economy was in the dumps. India, meanwhile, was looking to modernize. The two countries came up with an exchange: India would help finance development and, in return, received access to modern weapons at what turned out to be bargain-basement prices. One of those weapons was the BrahMos cruise missile.
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The BrahMos is a variant of the SS-N-26 Sapless cruise missile (also known as the P-800 Oniks) used by the Russian Navy. The BrahMos, like the Sapless, can be launched from ships, submarines, or land bases. It packs a 661-pound warhead, has a maximum range of 180 miles, and is capable of operating as a “sea-skimmer,” flying within 50 feet of the surface of the ocean. It has a top speed of Mach 3.
In short, this is a missile that can go unseen until it’s very close, at which point you have very little time to react. According to an official website for the missile, the BrahMos is operated on Indian Navy ships and by three Indian Army regiments. The Indian Air Force is also testing the Brahmos for its force of Su-30 MKI Flankers, giving them more options for deploying this devastating ordnance.
Learn more about this Mach 3 missile in the video below!
