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The first Indian-made hypersonic missile based on the Russian Zircon capable of Mach 5+, the BrahMos II, will be ready in several years.
The first hypersonic missile will be made in India, similar to the already tested Russian Zircon. According to Atul Rane, the CEO of BrahMos Aerospace, BrahMos-II, which developed the supersonic BrahMos supersonic missile, spoke to TASS about the weapon system.
Indian Hypersonic Technology Coming Soon
The Indian aerospace firm is working with India's Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyenia to further develop the BrahMos series, reported EurAsian Times.
After the BrahMos, the next version is the BrahMos II, which will follow up as an upgrade to its supersonic predecessor.
In August 2020, the DRDO built India's first indigenous Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV), which was launched. The BrahMos-initial II's flight test could take as much as five or six years, according to Rane.
Technology To Be Transferred to New Delhi
The CEO said they are collaborating with the Russians to create an improved hypersonic model. Rane explained that both missiles might use the same technology.
Development of a hypersonic cruise missile is ongoing worldwide. Both the US and China are working on cruise missiles with hypersonic capabilities. But they do not yet possess them.
Nobody has created an ultrafast cruise missile Rane continued. According to Moscow, NPO Mashinostroeniya is the company that created the Tsirkon hypersonic antiship cruise missile.
According to President Putin's statements, the Zircon missile can travel at a maximum speed of roughly Mach 9 and has a maximum range of more than 1,000 kilometers.
Tsirkon will be operational before the BrahMos II ultrafast missile capable of Mach 6 to 8 and 600 to 1000 kilometers.
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The Russian missile is capable of conventional and nuclear warheads, although whether a nuclear warhead will be equipped is to follow.
BrahMos-II Not To Be Sold Abroad
India will produce the BrahMos that has been enhanced to reach Mach 5. It will be India's only hypersonic missile type, which will cost a lot to produce. Its supersonic version was sold to Manila last July.
Interest in the supersonic cruise missile has Indonesia in talks to arm its warships as shipborne missiles. Rane said the Mach 5+ version of the guided missile would be only for Russia and India, not for anyone else.
The CEO stated that because India is a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), a missile with a 300-kilometer assault radius that weighs roughly 500 grams is now available but is not for sale.
It holds for the supersonic BrahMos missile, whose most recent version has a 500-kilometer range. But there are limitations to the export versions of only 290 kilometers. The 500 km version is exclusive.
Tsirkon To Be Ready Soon
According to President Putin's declaration made on July 31 in honor of Russia's Navy Day, they will be used for the first time on the Admiral Gorshkov frigate of the Northern Fleet.
Russia tested the Tsirkon hypersonic missile for the first time in 2021 from the nuclear-powered Severodvinsk submarine of the Northern Fleet.
According to Russian media sources from November 2021, Tsirkon missile serial manufacture had already started while missile testing was being conducted.
The made-in-India hypersonic missile called the BrahMos II, similar to the Russian Zircon will be available only for Delhi and Moscow when the prototype is made.
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