India has uprated its BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles
by installing the advanced satellite navigation systems from Russia's
Kh-555 and Kh-101 strategic long-range cruise missiles, adding
GPS-GLONASS technology to the existing doppler-inertial platform,
Izvestia reported on Tuesday quoting sources in the military-industrial
complex.
The integration of the navigation systems from Kh-555 will turn
BrahMos, a supersonic cruise missile, into a "super-rocket" with almost a
sub-strategic capability above its normal tactical range, capable of
hitting targets over 180-300 miles (300-500 km), from sea, land and air
launchers, and capable of being armed with a nuclear warhead, the source
said.
The installation of the advanced navigation system is optimised for
the new air-launched version of BrahMos, which will be carried by
India's Russian-built Sukhoi Su-30MKI strike fighters. India plans to deploy over 200 of the advanced aircraft by 2020.
Analysts say the addition of satellite-based navigation systems will improve the weapon's accuracy.
“Conventional Doppler INS has an inherent drift, so the longer the
range of the weapon, the larger the relative error," said Douglas
Barrie, air warfare analyst at the London-based International Institute
for Strategic Studies. "Introducing satellite navigation improves the
missile’s positional accuracy. From an investment stand-point it also
makes sense to re-use sub-systems that have already been developed.”
Former Royal Navy Weapons Engineering officer Hugh Price agreed.
"Satellite navigation means the missile will now be accurate to within a
few meters," he said.
The combination of air-launched BrahMos with the Su-30 will give
India a long-range strike capability similar to Russia's Tu-95MS and
Tu-160 strategic bombers, said aviation analyst and editor of Vzlet
magazine Vladimir Sherbakov.
"This missile is an important element in the military power of the
Indian armed forces and our Indian partners have placed a lot of faith
in it," he said.
India's main potential adversary, Pakistan, does not have modern air
defenses capable of engaging targets outside BrahMos range, a source in
Russia's High Command told the paper.
The Indian Navy carried out a successful test-firing of the
sea-launched variant of the weapon on October 7 from the frigate INS Teg
off the coast of Goa, the New Indian Express reported.
BrahMos can reach a speed of Mach 2.8 at levels as low as 30 feet (10
m) or fly high-profile diving attacks. The missile was jointly
developed by Russia and India, based on the NPO Mashinostroyenie 3M55
Onyx (NATO SS-N-26).
Sumber: Rianovosti
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