PJ-10 “BrahMos” – joint development of JSC “VPK NPO Mashinostroeniya” and the Defense Research and Development Organization of the Indian Ministry of Defense. In 1998, an agreement on cooperation between the governments of the Russian Federation and the Republic of India was signed, and a joint Russian-Indian enterprise BrahMos Aerospace was created.
While the BrahMos has a maximum range of 300 km in the basic version, it can hit targets at a distance of 450 km in the upgraded version. The missile is guided by an inertial system to a land or sea target and corrected by a radar homing head.
For the first time, the Indians simultaneously launched two missiles at the same target – a decommissioned warship. One of the missiles was launched from the destroyer INS Delhi, the second from the Su-30MKI fighter.
Vasily Kashin, director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies (CECMI) at the Higher School of Economics, called the planned tests and stated that BrahMos is an important weapon for India that can establish control over the Indian Ocean. However, he did not rule out the demonstrative nature of the tests.
“It is extremely important for the Indians to maintain the dominance of their military forces in the Indian Ocean, they are watching with concern the increase in Chinese naval activity in the region. They show how great their capabilities are, they are capable of really hitting any naval target,” Kashin explained to socialbites.ca.
At the same time, the Indian newspaper The Hindu (The Hindu, “The Hindu”) believes that the tests can be carried out in anticipation of an agreement between India and the Philippines. Manila wants to buy a batch of BrahMos missile systems from Delhi, but negotiations have dragged on.
“Successful tests in this case would be good publicity for these missile systems. If India closes the deal and the buyer is satisfied, it can then offer BrahMos to other states in the region. Continued deliveries of these missile systems will strengthen defense cooperation with the Philippines and help India’s global weapons will strengthen its position in the market.
Tests of the BrahMos missile could also be an “elegant message” to Washington, according to Victor Dymov, senior researcher at the Institute for Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and close expert on Indian history.
“Just a week ago, the American president tried to persuade India to reduce or minimize military cooperation with Russia and participate in sanctions. Now the Indians are defiantly testing a rocket with Russian roots, in addition, the name of the Russian capital is “planted” in its name, Dymov told socialbites.ca.
At the same time, Dymov believes that India has not completely abandoned US offers, but is trying to find profitable commercial offers in the context of the sharp exacerbation of relations between the Kremlin and the White House.
“Obviously, there is a non-public auction going on right now. Delhi owes nothing to Moscow and the USA. They want to see who can make the best and most profitable offer for them, including arms procurement and military technology transfer. So far, the championship here belongs specifically to Russia, which sells the S-400 to India.
But Delhi would easily cut ties with us if the United States offered anything similar to the Indians. Moreover, they have already received the S-400. Now they are waiting for a profitable offer from the Americans. India’s strategy is to make the most of the US-Russian war.”
Added Dymov.
In turn, Dmitry Stefanovich, researcher at the Center for International Security at IMEMO RAS, noted that another result of successful tests of BrahMos could be the beginning of work on the creation of an aviation Onyx in Russia.
“Maybe after India launches the missiles, we will consider producing Onyx missiles from the air again. We now only put them into service in land and ship versions,” he said.
Source: Gazeta
