Indian Navy INS Chennai Successfully Fires Extended Range Brahmos Land Attack Missile

The Indian Navy successfully demonstrated the accuracy of an extended-range land attack Brahmos supersonic cruise missile from the stealth destroyer INS Chennai (D65), on 5th March, 2022. The missile hit its intended target with pinpoint accuracy after traversing an extended range trajectory and performing complex manoeuvres. This achievement establishes the Indian Navy’s ability to strike even deeper and influence land operations further away from sea, when and where required. Both Brahmos missile and INS Chennai are indigenously built and highlight the cutting-edge of Indian missile and ship-building prowess. They reinforce the Indian Navy’s contribution towards the Atma Nirbhar Bharat and Make in India endeavours.

INS Chennai (D65) is the third and last ship of the Kolkata-class stealth guided missile destroyers of the Indian Navy. She was constructed by the Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) at Mumbai. On 17 April 2017, INS Chennai was dedicated to the city of Chennai in presence of then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, K. Palaniswamy. INS Chennai is designed to carry the supersonic BrahMos surface-to-surface missile system. The system enables the ship to engage shore-based and naval surface targets at long range making it a lethal platform for strike against enemy targets. The India-designed ship is designed to have state of the art weapons and sensors, stealth features, an advanced action information system.

The BrahMos (designated PJ-10) is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarine, ships, aircraft or land. It is notably one of the fastest supersonic cruise missiles in the world. It is a joint venture between the Russian Federation’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), who together have formed BrahMos Aerospace. It is based on the Russian P-800 Oniks cruise missile and other similar sea-skimming Russian cruise missile technology. The name BrahMos is a portmanteau formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia. It is the world’s fastest Anti-Ship Cruise Missile currently in operation.

By April 2013, Brahmos has been inducted in eight warships of the Indian Navy. The three Kolkata-class destroyers in this class are armed with two bow mounted 8-cell Brahmos VLS launchers. The Kolkata class INS Chennai successfully tested Brahmos launch on October 18, 2020. The ship-launched and land-based missiles can carry a 200 kg warhead, whereas the aircraft-launched variant (BrahMos A) can carry a 300 kg warhead. Although BrahMos was primarily an anti-ship missile, the BrahMos Block III can also engage land-based targets. It can be launched either in a vertical or inclined position and is capable of covering targets over a 360-degree horizon. The BrahMos missile has an identical configuration for land, sea, and sub-sea platforms.