By Girish Linganna
When Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called Operation Sindoor a “trailer” and declared that every part of Pakistan now lies within India’s striking range, he was not merely issuing a warning. He was announcing the coming of age of India’s most formidable conventional weapon, one that has fundamentally altered the strategic balance in South Asia. Standing beside Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on October 18, as the first batch of BrahMos missiles rolled out from the new Lucknow facility, Singh’s message was unmistakable: India’s military capabilities have entered a new era, and the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile is at its heart.
The journey of this remarkable weapon system began not in the glare of geopolitical tensions, but in the quiet corridors of scientific collaboration. In 1993, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, then DRDO Secretary, travelled to Russia on what would become a historic visit. There, he discovered a half-finished supersonic engine project gathering dust, abandoned after the Soviet Union’s collapse left Russia struggling with funds. What others saw as a failed venture, Kalam saw as opportunity. Five years of negotiations later, on February 12, 1998, he and Russia’s Deputy Defence Minister NV Mikhailov signed the agreement that created BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture with India holding 50.5% and Russia 49.5%. The name itself, combining the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers, symbolized this east-meets-west partnership.
The financial commitment was substantial but balanced. Russia invested $123.75 million (₹10,766 crores at present conversion rates) while India put in $126.25 million (₹10,984 crores), and work began immediately in the specialized laboratories of both DRDO and NPOM. The first successful test launch on June 12, 2001, from Chandipur in Odisha, marked the arrival of the world’s only operational supersonic cruise missile. Flying at Mach 2.8 (3,430 km/h), the BrahMos was faster than anything else in its class. More importantly, it combined this blistering speed with precision and a “fire and forget” capability, meaning once launched, it required no further guidance to find its target.
But speed and autonomy were only part of the story. The BrahMos operates on a two-stage propulsion system that gives it remarkable versatility. A solid-fuel booster provides the initial thrust for take-off, detaching after launch. Then a ramjet engine kicks in, using specialized fuel to sustain Mach 3 speeds (3,675 km/h) while allowing the missile to fly anywhere from 15 km high to a mere 10 metres above ground. This ability to hug terrain makes it extraordinarily difficult to detect on radar, and nearly impossible to intercept. Combined with its massive kinetic energy at impact, the BrahMos became a weapon that could overwhelm any defence system.
The most challenging adaptation came when India decided to make the missile air-launchable. Former DRDO Director General S.K. Mishra recalls that fitting the BrahMos onto a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet was considered nearly impossible. The Russian company Sukhoi quoted ₹1,300 crore for the redesign work. Instead, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd took up the challenge and completed it for just ₹88 crore, a stunning example of Indian engineering prowess and cost efficiency. This air-launched version, reportedly used during Operation Sindoor in May to strike deep inside Pakistan, has proven to be a game-changer, giving the Indian Air Force the ability to launch devastating attacks from standoff distances.
The missile’s range has grown steadily as India’s strategic environment evolved. Initially capped at 290 km due to Missile Technology Control Regime restrictions, the range jumped to 450 km after India joined the MTCR in June 2016. Now, an 800-km variant is in advanced testing, with upgrades to the ramjet engine and navigation systems. What makes this particularly significant is that existing 450-km versions can be upgraded to the longer range through software modifications alone, changes to the fire-control systems and related interfaces, without major hardware overhauls. This means the Indian Navy’s 20 warships already equipped with BrahMos can gain extended reach relatively quickly and inexpensively.
The international validation of the BrahMos came in 2022 when the Philippines signed a $375 million deal (₹32,625 crores at present conversion rates) for the missile system, marking India’s first export of such advanced military hardware. The second batch was delivered in April 2025, and countries like Argentina have expressed interest. As Mishra noted, while other nations shopped around comparing different systems, the Philippines chose BrahMos as superior to all alternatives. For a country that has traditionally been an arms importer, becoming an exporter of cutting-edge weapons technology represents a fundamental shift in global perception.
The numbers tell the story of India’s commitment to this platform. In March last year, the Defence Ministry signed its largest-ever deal worth ₹19,519 crore for over 220 BrahMos missiles for the Navy. After Operation Sindoor demonstrated the weapon’s battlefield effectiveness, the Defence Acquisitions Council gave initial approval in August for the Air Force to acquire 110 more air-launched variants worth about ₹10,800 crore. The new Lucknow facility, which Singh inaugurated, will produce about 100 missiles annually, generating ₹3,000 crore in turnover and ₹500 crore in GST revenue.
But beyond the impressive specifications and production numbers lies a deeper strategic reality. The BrahMos represents India’s move toward genuine self-reliance in critical defence technology, even while maintaining valuable partnerships. The Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme started in 1983 laid the groundwork, and the BrahMos partnership with Russia showed that collaboration need not mean dependence. The involvement of private sector companies like PTC Industries in creating the Strategic Material Technology Complex in Lucknow demonstrates that India is building an entire ecosystem, from raw materials to finished components, within its borders.
The BrahMos has changed the calculus of conflict in South Asia. A missile that flies too fast to intercept, too low to detect easily, and strikes with devastating precision creates a conventional deterrent that was previously impossible. Pakistan can no longer rely on geographic depth or hardened installations for protection. Every military installation, every command center, every strategic asset is now vulnerable to strikes that can come from land, sea, or air with less than a few minutes of warning.
The development of the 800-km variant, expected by late 2027, will extend this reach even further, making it impossible for adversaries to position critical assets beyond India’s conventional strike capability. This is deterrence without nuclear weapons, a way to project power and defend interests while staying below the nuclear threshold. In a subcontinent where nuclear weapons make total war unthinkable, having overwhelming conventional superiority in key systems like cruise missiles provides India with options and flexibility that pure nuclear deterrence cannot offer.
The BrahMos story is ultimately about transformation, about a nation that once imported all its advanced weapons becoming a developer and exporter of systems that lead the world. It is about scientific vision, exemplified by Kalam’s ability to see potential in a abandoned Soviet project, and engineering excellence, shown by HAL’s cost-effective integration work. It is about strategic partnerships that leverage foreign expertise while building domestic capability. And it is about a missile that has become more than a weapon, it is a symbol of India’s technological rise and a concrete reminder to those who might threaten Indian interests that the costs of such actions have grown exponentially. When Singh said Pakistan should remember that India knows what to do when the time comes, the BrahMos gives weight to words that might otherwise seem like empty rhetoric. The trailer, as he said, has been shown. The question now is whether anyone wants to see the full feature. (IPA Service)
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