On January 11, 2022, the Defence Research Development Organization test fired the Brahmos Advanced Variant. It is a sea – to – sea variant of the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile. It was tested from INS Vishakhapatnam.

About the Test Fire

This is a step of India becoming self-reliant. Also, the test confirmed the readiness of Indian Navy. Brahmos was developed under joint collaboration of India and Russia. It can be launched from air, sea and land. The target range of Brahmos is 290 kilometre. The range was capped at 290 km because of MTCR (Missile Technology Control Regime)

MTCR and Brahmos

MTCR is an informal organization. It has 35 members. China is not a member of MTCR. India exports Brahmos to Vietnam under the MTCR. MTCR helped India procure Arrow II missile from Israel. The Indian arms exports increased due to MTCR. The Indian Space Researches are now able to access high end technologies due to MTCR.

INS Vishakhapatnam

It is one of the four indigenously built missile destroyer. It was built under Project 15B. It was commissioned in November 2021.

Brahmos

It is a supersonic cruise missile. The name was formed by coining Brahmaputra and Moskva. The first stage of the Brahmos engine is fired by solid rocket booster, second stage by liquid ramjet. The propellant used in the first stage is solid fuel and that used in the second stage is liquid fuel. It can attain a maximum speed of Mach 2.0 to 2.8.