India, Russia to build BrahMoS hypersonic version

NSA Ajit Doval and his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev, during their meeting last week, is understood to have discussed the possibilities of the joint development of the hypersonic version of BrahMos or BrahMos-II missile.

Defence supplies from Russia and defence sector collaboration were key items on the agenda of the India-Russia NSA meet held on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation-NSA meet and the two senior officials are understood to have discussed the possibility of a joint development of an advanced version of the BrahMos missile, ET has learnt.

The two NSAs had held a one-on-one meet that focussed on connectivity issues, Pakistan-Ukraine defence axis, payment mechanism, security partnership and defence supplies from Russia that have been impacted by the war.


Moscow is ahead of the US and other western powers in the development of hypersonic missiles, considered a game-changer in modern warfare. Hypersonic Weapon Systems (HWS) have been in the limelight since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. BrahMos-II could have the same performance characteristics as Russia's Tsirkon (Zircon) missile, sources indicated to ET.

Last year, CEO of BrahMos Aerospace, Atul Rane had said that it was "possible" that BrahMos-II would share some characteristics with Russia's Tsirkon missile.

"The whole world is working on a hypersonic cruise missile. The US and China are developing hypersonic versions of their cruise missiles. But they do not have them yet. I have not seen anyone in the world having hypersonic cruise missiles. Russia says it tested the Tsirkon hypersonic antiship cruise missile developed by NPO Mashinostroeniya," Rane told Russian news agency TASS last year. Rane had then stated that "technology bricks" for a hypersonic missile have been designed by both sides.

India is party to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which allows the country to develop a missile with a range of over 300 km and weighing more than 500 kg but not to export it to other countries. This is true even in the case of the supersonic BrahMos missile, the latest variant of which has a range of 500 km. The export version is capped at 290 km to comply with the MTCR restrictions of 300 km.

The BrahMos-II is expected to be capable of travelling at speeds of up to Mach 7 and has a range of over 300 miles. It is being designed to be launched from multiple platforms, including land, air, and sea.

Hypersonic weapon systems are advanced military technologies that can travel at extremely high speeds, typically defined as Mach 5 or higher (five times the speed of sound). These weapons are designed to be extremely manoeuvrable, able to change course quickly and evade enemy defence, and can travel long distances in a very short time. Furthermore, HWS are capable of carrying out launches from a variety of platforms, including ground-based systems, aircraft, and submarines. They are typically designed to carry conventional or nuclear warheads and are seen as a potential game-changer in military operations, particularly in terms of their speed, range, and ability to penetrate enemy defences.

The BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile, developed by the joint Russian-Indian BrahMos Aerospace company. The missile has been jointly developed by Russia's NPO Mashinostroyeniya and India's Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). The first trial launch took place in 2001. Various versions of this missile have been commissioned to India's Navy, Air Force and ground forces.