Completing the Triad

The successful test of the BrahMos cruise missile is an incredible achievement

As an Indian Air Force Sukhoi 30MKI dropped the BrahMos missile over the Bay of Bengal there was no guarantee that the test would be successful. However, the missile fired and streaked 400 kilometers to its target. The success of the air-launched BrahMos is another feather in the cap of India’s most successful weapons development program although it has been done in collaboration with the Russian NPO Maschinostroyeniya. The development program of the cruise missile has seen Indian scientists and weapons programs gain knowledge that the country lacked as well as the development of a world-leading weapons system which is the fastest cruise missile in the world that is capable of reaching Mach 2.8. The BrahMos missile has been successfully deployed by our land and naval forces, in fact on the latter the abilities of the BrahMos as an anti-ship missile have meant that all new Indian navy surface vessels have the BrahMos equipped as standard.

The Army also has deployed three regiments equipped with BrahMos launchers which should give enemy forces pause before launching any territorial violation of India. The developmental work required for the BrahMos missile to be launched from the air however required several modifications to the missile. As India lacks traditional ‘bomber’ aircraft, the heavy Sukhoi-30MKI was the chosen platform. The ability to air launch the missile against a medium-range target means that the nation can face threats from a multitude of directions rapidly, as land missiles are relatively immobile and ship-based launchers take time to move into position. Beyond the offensive capabilities of this weapon, this is a major defensive plus for India especially given the massive Chinese military expansion including Chinese Naval moves into the Indian Ocean. 

There has been no need for India to use the BrahMos in anger and we hope that there never will be, however the success of the BrahMos project which has been achieved in a timely manner with reasonable costs also highlights the massive problems afflicting other weapons and systems programs in India. The massive Chinese military buildup including the building of close to a hundred new surface ships and submarines as well as several new squadrons of aircraft, almost all of which have been indigenously developed by the Chinese is a matter of concern. India’s military build-up still seems hobbled by developmental ineptitude and political dithering.

The success of the BrahMos project should give India’s weapons developmental programs a fillip and the government should work double-time to ensure the success of these projects.  Dithering during the ten years of UPA rule severely delayed several defence acquisition programs and the imbecilic questioning of projects by members of ‘civil society’ can only make one wonder if they are actually foreign agents. It is imperative that India builds up the private sector in the defence sphere as well because we live in a highly volatile part of the world with an expansionist power on one side and a narco-terror state on the other side. The BrahMos missile test proves that we can at least defend ourselves in the short-term but much work remains to be done. One can only hope that it gets done quickly.