Supersonic missiles are faster than Mach 1(761.21 miles per hour). Mach 1 represents the speed of the moving object related to the speed of the sound in the medium. The supersonic missile is not faster than Mach 3(2283.62 miles per hour) and Mach 5(3806.04 miles per hour)(Hypersonic missile). Because supersonic missiles are moving between the speed Mach 2(1522.41 miles per hour) and Mach 3.
The fastest supersonic missile in the world
- The BrahMos is the fastest supersonic missile in the world.
- The Brahmos travel between the range 290-600 (km) and this missile has the travel of speed is Mach 3.
Types of Brahmos supersonic missile
- Air-launched missile
- Anti-ship missile
- Land attack missile
- Surface to surface missile
- Submarine-launched supersonic missile.
As we know that Brahmos is the fastest missile in the world. The land launched and ship-launched missiles are already in the service. The anti-ship missiles are in operation. The hypersonic missile is under development. This development has targeted to the speed of missile range up to match Mach 7 and Mach 8.
Air-launched missile
Missiles are launched from a military aircraft which is the air-launched missile. These missiles are short-range, longer-range jet engines, and slower missiles. The speed of the air-launched missiles is traveling up to 2,500 km. The length of the air-launched missile is 6.3 meters. The air-launched missile is used for attacks against the land, sea-based offensive targets. They actively pretend from hydrogen bombs, the force comes from fission, kinetic energy, explosive energy which are called conventional weapons. The air-launched missile is used like a-bombs.
The Air launched missile was launched from a Sukhoi Su - 30MKI. This is used as a standoff weapon and it was also heavy, all weather, and long range fighter variant.
Anti-ship missile
The anti-ship missiles are used against ships and large boats. These are guided missiles. The anti-ship missiles are launched with bombers, shore batteries, patrol planes, and fighter planes. This missile is traveling between the speed of Mach 2.0 to Mach 3.0. The anti-ship missile is moving up to 600 km.
Land attack missile
The land-attack missiles are launched from aircraft, submarines, ships, or ground-based launchers. These missiles are used against ground-based targets. This missile is used as a conventional warhead. The land-attack missile is used to attack small targets. A land attack missile is a guided missile. For that, The guidance occurs in three phases. They are launch, midcourse, and terminal. The guidance can be done by a radar-based terrain contour matching system, inertial navigation system, radar or optical scene matching system, and satellite navigation system. The land-attack missile is traveling between the speed of Mach 2.8 to Mach 3.0.
Surface to Surface missile
The surface-to-surface missile is launched from the land or ground, and sea. So the target area is always land and sea. They are used as rockets. The surface to surface missiles is powdered by the explosive charges and rocket engines. The launching platform is moving slowly. The speeds range up to Mach 2.8. this missile has many types of categories. They are
History of BrahMos and Development.
The BrahMos was tested by many places in various of environment. We can see here the tested supersonic missile based on the date of the year.
12 June 2001 - Integrated tested range (Chandipur) - Vertical launch configuration.
14 June 2004 - Integrated tested range - Mobile launcher.
5 March 2008 - INS ( Rajput) - The land attack version.
18 December 2008 - INS (Ranvir) - The vertical launch.
20 January 2009 - BrahMos was tested with new capabilities like a new version with a new navigation system. All the missile performance was normal but it was missed the target and not maintained by the direction. So this missile was failed.
4 March 2009 - The above failed missile was successfully tested. This new BrahMos missile is hit the target within two and half minutes of launch.
5 September 2010 - The BrahMos was tested and its created the world record ( Chandipur).
22 March 2018 - The Indian technology tested the BrahMos supersonic missile ( First time in India).
30 September 2019 - The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was tested successfully. This missile has indigenous systems like propulsion system, super power supply, and airframe.
30 September 2020 - The extended system of BrahMos was tested successfully in India. This missile has the capability of targeting the area more than 400 km range.
Submarine-launched supersonic missile
This missile is launched from a submarine. They are used against land attacks with conventional warheads and nuclear payloads. The anti-ship cruise missile is also used as the submarine-launched supersonic missile.
20 March 13 - The submarine launched variant of BrahMos was tested successfully in Visakhapatnam.
This BrahMos missile was first vertical launch of supersonic missile from the submerged platform.
January 2016 - The small version of the submarine supersonic missile was launched (Indian made submarine).
