Chinese believe India has more than 14,000 BrahMos missiles. Is it true?

How many BrahMos has been made are not confirmed by India but the Chinese think tank believes that more than 15,000 BrahMos missiles are built of which nearly 14,000 are in service with the Indian Armed Forces.

BrahMos is a medium-range, ramjet engine, supersonic cruise missile. Its maximum speed is Mach 3 to Mach 3.2. Brahmos missile ranges more than 500 km and weight is about 2,500-3,000 kg and can fly to a low altitude of 3-4 m from sea level. This missile can be launched from Aircraft, Ships & Submarines, and also from land-based mobile launchers that are set up in Tata motors heavy mobility trucks.

This missile is jointly developed by India and Russia. BrahMos is derived from Brah as Brahmaputra river of India and Mos as Moskva river of Russia.

It is fastest supersonic cruise missile in the world and overall second fastest missile in the world currently in service only after DRDO’s ballistic missile Shaurya. It was been manufactured jointly by BrahMos Aerospace Limited, DRDO and NPO Mashinostroyeniya. Brahmos engine comes in two stages. The first stage uses solid rocket booster and the second stage contains liquid Ramjet.

It uses inertial navigation system along with GPS/NavIC/GAGAN/GLONASS satellite guidance and active radar homing.

Other variants of BrahMos- BrahMos MK 2 is under development which will have more speed and more range than BrahMos MK 1.

It came into service in November 2006. Since then how many BrahMos has been made are not confirmed by India but Chinese think tank believes that more than 15,000 BrahMos missile is built of which nearly 14,000 are in service with Indian Armed Forces. The cost for each unit of BrahMos missile system is the US $ 2.75 million.

BrahMos missile is used by both Indian and Russian armed forces. It’s difficult to know the exact number of BrahMos missile currently in service with Indian Armed forces but it’s estimated that about 1000 BrahMos are in service with Indian Navy, 3,500 with Indian Army. 1,500 BrahMos is expected to be inducted with Indian Air force but now only 20 are actually active.

Indian Navy

There are 12 warships which are equipped with BrahMos MK I. Total 1,000 BrahMos missiles are inducted with Navy. Almost 500 missiles are deployed with various warships and 500 are kept on stock.

Rajput class destroyers	Total 60	INS Rajput- 4 armed and 8 on stock INS Ranvir- 8 armed and 16 on stock INS Ranvijay- 8 armed and 16 on stock
Talwar class frigate	Total 72	INS Teg- 8 armed and 16 on stock INS Tarkash- 8 armed and 16 on stock INS Trikand- 8 armed and 16 on stock
Shivalik class frigate	Total 72	INS Shivalik- 8 armed and 16 on stock INS Satpura- 8 armed and 16 on stock INS Sahyadri- 8 armed and 16 on stock
Kolkata class destroyer	Total 144	INS Kolkata- 16 armed and 32 on stock INS Kochi- 16 armed and 32 on stock INS Chennai- 16 armed and 32 on stock
Visakhapatnam class destroyer	Total 144	INS Visakhapatnam- 16 armed and 32 on stock INS Mormugao- 16 armed and 32 on stock INS Imphal- 16 armed and 32 on stock

Indian Army

There are 4 Regiments of BrahMos missile currently active in Indian Army and 5th Regiment is soon going to be inducted. Total of 3,500 BrahMos missiles is inducted with Army. 1,500 missiles are deployed on 4 fronts and 2,000 are on stock.

861 Regiment	Total 360	72 armed and 288 on stock
862 Regiment	Total 360	72 armed and 288 on stock
863 Regiment	Total 360	72 armed and 288 on stock
864 Regiment	Total 360	72 armed and 288 on stock

Indian Air Force

20 aircraft loaded and 50 on the stock. Each Su-30MKI can carry single Air version of BrahMos at its every flight. Total 1,500 Air launch BrahMos is expected to deliver to Indian Air force. Currently, only 20 Su-30MKI are made able to carry BrahMos but it will be soon added in rest 250 of Su-30MKI Aircraft.

Other countries like the Philippines, Chile, Vietnam, Oman, South Africa, Egypt and Brunei, Indonesia are impressed with BrahMos capabilities and they may show their interest in coming days.

Variants and Tests

There are two variants of BrahMos missile developed-MK 1 with range 500 km and MK 2 with range 600 km which is currently under development.

MK-I

Surface launch variant

First test flight of BrahMos was conducted on 12 June 2001 from Chandipur in I.T. Range. The second test was conducted on 14 June 2004 at the same place.

Its Land attack variant test was conducted on 5 March 2008 from INS Rajput.

Its Vertical launch test was conducted on 18 December 2008 from INS Ranvir.

At 5 September 2010, this missile travelled with super-sonic speed and created world record. This test was conducted in Chandipura, I.T. Range.

Its test with Indian seeker was conducted on 22 March 2018.

Its latest test was conducted on 30 September 2020 which has extended range and more speed.

Submarine launch Variant

The first test was conducted on 20 March 2013 near Visakhapatnam at the Bay of Bengal.

It’s latest test is conducted on 20 October 2020 from INS Chennai.

Air launch Variant

The first test was conducted on 21 October 2019 at Andaman and Nicobar Island.
The second test was conducted on 17 December 2019 at I.T. Range, Kalaikunda Airbase.

SPECIFICATIONS

In-Service-November	2006
First Testing	12 June 2001
Length/Diameter	8.4 m/0.6 m
Weight	3000 kg
Warhead	200-300 kg
Speed	Mach 3+
Range	500 km

MK II

The Brahmosll is expected to have a range of 450 km and speed of Mach 7. During the cruise stage of flight, the Missile will be launched by scramjet air-breathing jet engine. Other details regarding production cost and physical dimension of the Missile are yet too brought forward. It is expected to be ready for testing in 2020.

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine	Scramjet
In-Service	Under Development
First Testing	No testing
Length/Diameter	8.2 m/0.5 m (expected)
Weight	2,500 kg (expected)
Warhead	200-400 kg (expected)
Speed	Mach 7
Range	450-600 km (expected)

BrahMos Missile Updates

BrahMos missile latest news states that India has deployed BrahMos missile along with other cruise and ballistic missile near LAC on the verge of Indo-China conflict. India is conducting various tests on its all the missile system to keep it ready in advance due to border tensions with China and Pakistan. Chinese Army has a great fear of BrahMos. Their think tank suggested that more than 14,000 BrahMos missiles are deployed by Indian Army near borders.