Brahmos Missile: Brahmos, the supersonic anti-ship cruise missile jointly developed by India and Russia, was successfully flight- tested from an undisclosed location in the Bay of Bengal, off Orissa coast on February 12, 2003. The test was conducted from a Naval ship INS Rajput. The missile is marginally over 8 meters in length, 670 mm in diameter and weighs 3000 kg. It combines the propulsion system and self made device of Russia’s missile or onyx system with sophisticated on board computer guidance developed by Indian defence scientists. Brahmos has a target range of about 290 km. with 200-300 kg payload of conventional warhead mass depending on the version. Partially an anti-ship missile, Brahmos has also the ability to engage shore-based radio­contrast targets. It can be fired from multiple platforms ship, land, submarine and air. Launched from a ship, it can fly up to a height of 14 km. at mach 2 speed (twice the speed of sound), it has a preset trajectory, but a sensor on the head detects the target and can change the missile’s course to strike up to 20 km. from targeted range. It may be recalled that Brahmos was showcased as one of the major attractions during the republic parade and India’s this supersonic missile was test-fired in 2001 and 2002 now that the trials of the missile are over. Brahmos, slated to enter production this year, is expected to hit world market soon. We can be proud of the fact that Brahmos is the only supersonic cruise missile in the world; all the other cruise missiles, including those in USA, are sub­sonic or fly below the speed of sound. Why do we call it Brahmos? It is a combined term from Brahmaputra and Moscow, a happy reflection of the widening India-Russia defence relationship. dignitarydefenseacademy.com (Best NDA Institute)