Brahmos Supersonic Cruise Missile : News, Updates and Discussions

marich01 said:
Further to the above post, found that old pdf I was actually searching for, the initial Brahmos ramjet work related, quite old but very accurate & from the DRDL team. You can read through and see why certain parameter were chosen for satisfactory performance. If we try to increase speed to such 4.5mach level almost certainly the design will have to be modified again to satisfy the boundary conditions ie our own ramjet engine will need to be created. Our STAR itself will also have the same mach 3 speed per reports.
SFDR based system can probably reach mach 4.5 range , even touch 5 depending on high energy propellant used. Tradeoff will probably affect the maneuverability of the missile, you have a high maneuver capable Brahmos, but a much higher speed based one will lose energy trying to follow similar flight guidance and pull such maneuver, thereby lose some range. Another negative being high G load due to g force caused by such high speed which may need strong airframe and make it heavier.
Click to expand...
So, further diving into the matter, found an old paper among desidoc journals , which discussed about the effect of fuel properties on specific thrust of ramjet engines. Like I was insinuating before, it also indicated the following part
Analysis of the ideal ramjet cycle1 reveals the
following: (i) I sp of an ideal ramjet has a local
maximum at the conventional supersonic flight range,
typically between Mach number 2.2 and Mach
number 3.5, (ii) for any operating conditions, the
lower the fuel/air ratio, f = mf /ma, the higher is the
specific impulse of the ideal ramjet.

Now this is for a liquid fuel hydrocarbon based ramjet, like something that uses kerosene as the main fuel. So Brahmos in its current config, if continue to use kerosene as fuel then it can only improve speed upto max envelope of 3.5 mach, which is exactly what I also read/heard in past discussions, that the NG version can have speed 3.5mach range. We can understand the Russsian have abundant of kerosene/hydrocarbon available to them so they used that as the most logical option, cheap & effective. To go to higher mach numbers, we will need much better propellant, solid metal powder based ones that have much higher burn rates.

Later I also came across this paper by 2 IIT Madrs academic scholars, which discussed that although all the research in hypersonic regime so far have been based on scramjet related, it is possible to modify a ramjet into a mach 6 capable hypersonic flight. by using AL based fuel rich propellant. Aluminium, Boron & specially hydrogen based propellants now have high potential compared to conventional ramjet fuel like kerosene which got 2500K flame temp so can not produce enough thrust to sustain mach 6 flight against the drag generated.

Attached both doc below
 

Attachments

  • Like
Reactions: Chain Smoker and Rajput Lion
Supersonic punch, hypersonic killer boost India’s cruise missile capability

Exhaustive article on the status of Brahmos & other missiles planned / existing in our inventory with a bit of history & what to expect for the future.

Just 1 glaring part which proved jarring . Apparently India & Russia hopes to mfg 5000 nos of various variants of the Brahmos about half of them for export by the middle of this decade i e 2025 . How exactly will we do this , I'm not sure .

Hell I'm not even sure we'd be able to mfg 5000 nos in toto by the end of the decade & if we do whether 2500 nos would actually be exported given it's prohibitive costs . Moreover I'm sure we'd need more than 2500 nos given our looming conflict with China .
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rajput Lion, Bali78, marich01 and 1 other person
From yesterdays presentation, that middle pic was also in the brochure. 2 different hypersonic versions? Yes the 2nd one is Zircon & dependent on Rus ToT, but still a bit interesting?
Rane sir mentioned NG related work mostly done now, I guess academic part. DRDL also posted a ramjet facility related job post recently. Who knows might be related.
In The video Dr Rane did say they will look to a mach 4-5 Brahmos as prelude to hypersonics.

Screenshot (6).png
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Chain Smoker, Rajput Lion, Ironhide and 1 other person

India speeding up development of Hypersonic BrahMos with Mach 5-7​

Recently, a deal has been signed for BrahMos missiles and Next Generation Brahmos Maritime Mobile Coastal Batteries Long Range (NGMMCB LR) and Brahmos missiles.
BrahMos Aerospace (BAPL), a joint venture between India and Russia is speeding up its efforts to develop technology for hypersonic version of the BrahMos missile.
Sources in the defence and security establishment told Financial Express Online that the company has tied up with various institutes in India and Moscow to work on the hypersonic version of the missile which can travel at five to seven times the speed of sound. Next to the present variants of Mach 2.8 to Mach 3.5, the hypersonic version will be BrahMos II.
The company has a tie up with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore where a team of 20 scientists are working on developing technologies that will be used for high temperature material to be used for building the missile, energy modules, cram-jet propulsions and required algorithms. And for this purpose a separate centre has been created in IISc, and the Moscow Institute of Aviation will focus on producing technologies for propulsion, kinetic energy modules which will be used in the hypersonic version of the missile.
Atul Dinkar Rane, CEO and MD, BrahMos Aerospace had told Financial Express Online earlier that the focus of the company is on the new BrahMos Next-Generation missile. This missile weighs almost half as much as the regular BrahMos missile which is already operational in India and the most lethal supersonic cruise missile.
The design work on the NG is going on and the design assessment will be done in Moscow soon. Following which there will be qualifying trials of the new version of the BrahMos Missile by 2024.
The company is aiming for 1,330 kgs of weight and performance in terms of range to be around 300 kms at a speed of Mach 3.5 and launchable from any aircraft.
The BrahMos NG will have a indigenous seeker with AESA radar and it will have a lesser radar cross section in comparison to the previous version.
By 2025, it is likely to be provided to the Indian Air Force, and as reported earlier the BrahMos NG could be fitted on the fighter fleets of SU-30 MKI and the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft `Tejas’.
When will the hypersonic variant be ready?
There is still work going on and it will take some time before it is ready. However, it is going to be very expensive and not many orders are expected from the Indian Armed Forces due to its high costs.
Indian Navy places order BrahMos NG
Recently, a deal has been signed for BrahMos missiles and Next Generation Brahmos Maritime Mobile Coastal Batteries Long Range (NGMMCB LR) and Brahmos missiles. The deal has been finalised for the Indian Navy at a cost of over Rs 1700 Crore.
Click to expand...

 
  • Like
Reactions: Rajput Lion, Tatvamasi and Ashwin
My interpretation of the presentation was

NG is ready theoretically, like R2 R3 throughout supersonic systems it is also 100% indigenous development & most likely to have a proprietary Indian ramjet. Dr Rane said at that point I do not want to leave the brand name Brahmos which suggest that. Weight down to 1330kg is probably an effort to fit it on Tejas mk1a. NG maybe mainly aimed as air launched weapon system, than multi platform ship/land initially. (just my guess)

This intermediate hypersonic version is the same planned upgrade on existing 3 ton version as a precursor to real hypersonic, and again will be wholly DRDO work. For this we need to have indigenous high temperature materials and develop the continuous comm link needed which is very hard. Cost will be a bit high because nobody makes such material in huge quantity and also need to address accuracy of the system.

Actual high end hypersonic aka Zircon will be the export version given by Rus & DRDO will use previous knowledge of their share of work from the intermediate stage above, that are INS, On board computer, platform integration, FCS & testing. Zircon is mach 10.7 , so logical for the export version
to be mach 6-7 capable. Again for this we will have to buy the agreed parts from Russia. In the process we will learn to develop good additive mfg, ultra high temp materials, simulation & guidance of that scramjet from tip to toe.

HSTDV will create our own future missile programs & at that time our industry should be in better shape to deliver everything. Theory dev wise we have done leading work in hypersonics, but there are some barriers in putting that theory into practical product.

 
  • Like
  • Informative
Reactions: TARGET, Rajput Lion and Tatvamasi
Why none of the naval articles in test got any control surfaces/fins like the air launched one? This is why I actually thought the NG version is solely air launched. Do these deploy the fins later via actuator control?
 
Yeah they are quite close to realising Nirbhay variant, though SLCM is a complete new project under ANSP so there is nothing yet on range etc. Nirbhay was 1000km, most likely to be extended further with STFE later variants, mk2 version etc. Below are some pics, thanks to @ Neutronx find from a presentation seminar last year. In the engines pic below, that mkII will be powering several articles I hope.
pic & video credit Neutronx / Defence matrix.

nirbh02.png
nirbh03.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sathya, Chain Smoker and Rajput Lion
#WATCH | As one of our most lethal air-combat assets, the BrahMos supersonic missile has really galvanized the way we will equip ourselves with precision firepower in the coming years. Seeing the conflicts that are happening across the globe the importance of precision, long range firepower can't be underscored: Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari
The combination of BrahMos on the Sukhoi Su-30 has really given us tremendous capability that has enhanced our firepower. It has made the deterrence value of the IAF go up by leaps and bounds: Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari
As the situation unfolded in Northern borders three years ago, we realised that the potent weapon can be used very effectively for land attacks... In future, next-generation BrahMos or a small version that can be fitted onto smaller platforms like MiG-29, Mirage 2000 or even the LCA: IAF Chief

https://twitter.com/x/status/1663780152294404096

https://twitter.com/x/status/1663787209017917442
https://twitter.com/x/status/1663815765093683202
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: Asterion Moloc, Sathya and Rajput Lion
https://twitter.com/x/status/1664542355980943360

Fxlf5RiakAAQ5S3
 
  • Love
Reactions: Rajput Lion
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom