BrahMos working on Mach-7 missile
BrahMos Aerospace, the Indo-Russian joint venture, is developing a hypersonic cruise missile with Mach-7 speed, or seven times the speed of sound. Officials said work on the submarine version of BrahMos is also in the pipeline. The hypersonic version will be powered by a scramjet engine, replacing the current ramjet engine required for sustaining supersonic missiles. According to reports, scientists have already started work on the first prototype of this missile, and a fully functional prototype is expected to be ready for testing by 2017.
Officials said BrahMos-II will be three times faster than the US Tomahawk missiles and is being designed similar to the weight and dimensions of the existing missile. This, officials said, would help its launch from existing launchers on land, sea and air. A research and development team, comprising scientists from the Centre of Excellence in High Speed Aerodynamics at Indian Institute of Science and their counterparts from Moscow Aviation Institute, is working on the new missile. The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile has already been inducted into Indian Army and Navy. An air-launch version of the supersonic missile has also been completed and is awaiting modifications.
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