Land Variant of BrahMos-NG to Double Indian Army's Salvo Strike Capability with 6-to-9 Missiles Per Launcher

The Indian Army is set to significantly enhance its tactical firepower with a potential future induction of the BrahMos-NG (Next Generation) missile.

According to Sudhir Mishra, the former head of BrahMos Aerospace, the army has shown keen interest in a land-based variant of this lighter, faster, and more versatile supersonic cruise missile, which is currently in advanced stages of development for the Indian Air Force.

This move marks a major step in India's ongoing military modernization. The adoption of the BrahMos-NG by the army would lead to a dramatic increase in the number of missiles that can be deployed on a single mobile launcher.

While the current Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) vehicles carry three of the original BrahMos missiles, the reduced size and weight of the NG version would allow each launcher to be configured with six or even nine missiles.

This doubles the missile capacity per vehicle, substantially boosting the army's ability to conduct "salvo strikes"—the tactic of firing a large number of missiles in quick succession to overwhelm and saturate enemy air defences.

The BrahMos-NG, a product of the Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace, is engineered to be a formidable weapon.

Weighing approximately 1.3 tonnes, it is nearly 50% lighter than its three-tonne predecessor. Despite this significant weight reduction, it is designed to maintain the proven strike range of around 290 kilometres.

Furthermore, the missile is expected to achieve speeds greater than Mach 2.8, or over 3,400 kilometres per hour, ensuring a rapid and precise strike capability against high-value targets.

The army's ground-launched variant would incorporate a booster stage to achieve initial thrust and compatibility with its existing mobile launch platforms.

The development of the BrahMos-NG is a cornerstone of India's strategy to bolster its strategic autonomy and deterrence posture.

The missile system is being primarily developed for the Indian Air Force to arm a wider range of aircraft, including the indigenous Tejas LCA fighter jet, which cannot carry the heavier, original BrahMos.

For the Indian Army, deploying a larger volume of missiles from a single unit provides a crucial tactical advantage in high-intensity conflict scenarios, enabling rapid and overwhelming firepower.

The successful integration of this next-generation missile across the armed forces will reinforce India's precision strike capabilities and its standing as a formidable military power.

 

[sanket]

Good. Next target should be developing extended range with speed beyond Mach 5 for all variants of BrahMos-NG.

 

[Kira]

This variant is far more useful for the IAF as multiple jets can carry multiple BrahMos-NG without modifications than for the IA.

 

[sunilanalysis]

It's best for India to have a large missile arsenal.

Anyway, the Air Force fails to establish air-to-air supremacy, so it's best to hit the enemy hard with missiles without fighter jet loss. Have all kinds of launchers, including simple mobile metal frame assembled launch platforms without the need for huge platforms.

As seen in the Iran-Israel wars, attacks can be made on fixed launchers, so it's better to have launchers that can be assembled anywhere, like drone metal launchers – extreme mobility.

 

[Sandeep]

While this missile is good we shouldn’t forget that we are already developing the Rudram MK1-3 which can cover 300km or more and it will hit targets at hypersonic speed during its terminal stage. If we are able to complete development and start production of those missiles in a few years time then is it necessary to develop the Brahmos NG.

The Brahmos NG is meant to be a brand new missile completely but we should look very closely at the technology and equipment used and where is it manufactured and how much Indian content will it have. With our advances in missile technology and skills we should 100% indigenously design, develop and manufacture it in India. We can reduce it to having a minimum and mandatory amount of 90% of Indian content rate at the least.

 

[Pankajrai]

Good development and now it's time to focus on Bramhos NG with range exceeding 800 km and speed above mach 5.

 

[Leored]

Enemy airbases are now prime targets. We must focus bunkers buster and vertical fall as well as high density explosion above surface and below bunker.

 

[Doc]

Salvo means simultaneous, together, fusillade, volley.

If we are talking about /referrring to some activity that takes place in quick succession, at extremely short intervals from each other or rapidly one after another, then, the word (in fighter-aircraft parlance) is RIPPLE.

 

[Doc]

In terms of range and speed, the BrahMos-NG is more or less similar to its original, heavier cousin the 3-tonne variant carried by the Su-30 only, at present.

The NG is around 1.3 tonnes against the earlier model weighing in at 3.
The Air Force is having the NG designed for carriage on the Mirage, Mig-29 and the Tejas aircraft and even potentially on UCAVS.

Considering its light weight, the Army is showing interest in inducting it after modifying its transporter (TELS) to carry 6 or even 9 missiles against its present design carriage of 3 missiles. The aim is salvo (and possibly 'ripple') firing of the missiles.

Common-sense tells us that (if the command vehicle/centre) is capable of programming each misssile independently (for a different target), a 'MIRV effect' can be created for each of the 6/9 missiles loaded on the transporter.
This would be 'shock and awe'.

 

[Mc Addy]

Anything that moves can either be a target or a survivor in today's AI based Drone warfare, where drones hunt autonomouly. So even lighter will do which can either be concealed or can move and fire on the go .