India launches BrahMos missile in powerful Pakistan strike
On the night of May 6 to 7, 2025, India conducted an airstrike on targets in Pakistan. It appears that the supersonic BrahMos missile was used, as indicated by the booster found in India. Here's an explanation of what it is.
Local residents in India discovered a missile booster from a BrahMos missile, identified by the CK-310 marking. This missile has a range of several hundred miles and is deployed by SU-30MKI aircraft. It is one of India's most effective tools for striking deep into enemy territory.
BrahMos — a joint creation of India and Russia
BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile developed through collaboration between India and Russia. Its origin dates back to February 1998, when an intergovernmental agreement was signed to establish the BrahMos Aerospace company. The name BrahMos reflects this partnership, derived from the Brahmaputra and Moscow rivers.
BrahMos is based on the design of the Russian anti-ship missile P-800 Oniks/Yakhont. Like its Russian counterpart, BrahMos can fly very low (even 33-49 feet) above the water or ground surface at supersonic speeds, allowing the target minimal time to react unless they have AWACS-type aircraft in the air.
The first tests of BrahMos took place in June 2001, and since then, numerous tests have been conducted from various platforms. The missile can be launched from land-based platforms, surface ships, and even submarines, as demonstrated by the test on March 20, 2013. The initial range was 180 miles, but in newer versions, it has been extended to 500 miles.
Meanwhile, work on the BrahMos-A airborne version, intended for launch from fighter jets, and its integration with Su-30MKI aircraft has been ongoing since 2012. The BrahMos-A version is estimated to have a range of up to 250 miles.
BrahMos — its secret
BrahMos features a two-stage design, where the first stage is a rocket booster that detaches after burnout, and the second stage is the main missile body with a ramjet engine.
The rocket booster ignites after the missile is released from the aircraft and functions for a few seconds, accelerating the missile to the speed required to activate the ramjet engine. This is similar to the European MBDA Meteor missile, which allows for a greater range in the same format than a conventional rocket engine.
The ramjet engine does not require a mixture of fuel and oxidizer as is the case in an ordinary rocket engine. Instead, it draws the oxygen needed for combustion from the atmosphere. At the same time, its compression results from, among other factors, the shape of the air intakes and the enormous speed. Consequently, the space previously occupied by the oxidizer can be used for a larger fuel supply.
The result is a missile with a range of several hundred miles capable of moving at approximately Mach 3 (3376 ft/s), which poses a significant challenge for air defense systems. The missile is also equipped with a warhead weighing over 440 pounds, with inertial and satellite navigation modules ensuring precise targeting, and a radar operating in the final phase of flight for pinpoint accuracy.
