India isi arata muschii la granita cu Pakistan

Pe fondul recentelor tensiuni dintre Islamabad si New Delhi, declasante de atentate de la sfarsitul anului din Bombay, armata indiana a decis sa efectueze la granita cu Pakistanul, teste cu rachete de tip BrahMos. Acestea au o raza de actiune de 290 de kilometri si sunt cele mai rapide din lume. Pot transporta incarcaturi de pana la 300 de kilograme si pot fi lansate de la sol, aer si apa. Ambele tari sunt puteri nucleare. Armata indiana a testat, ieri, versiunea terestra a rachetei supersonice de croaziera de tip BrahMos, pe care a construit-o in colaborare cu Rusia, a declarat un purtator de cuvant al Ministerului Apararii, citat de Reuters. Racheta a fost lansata din Pokhram, in desertul Rajasthan, la frontiera cu Pakistanul. Testul, calificat drept un exercitiu de "rutina", survine pe fondul tensiunilor intre cele doua state cu privire la atacurile teroriste din Bombay, de la sfarsitul lui noiembrie, despre care India afirma ca au fost organizate in Pakistan si efectuate de pakistanezi. Date tehnice despre BrahMos: BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. It is a joint venture between India's Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Russia's NPO Mashinostroeyenia who have together formed the BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited. The acronym BrahMos is perceived as the confluence of the two nations represented by two great rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia. At speeds of Mach 2.5 to 2.8, it is the world's fastest cruise missile and is about three and a half times faster than the U.S.A's subsonic Harpoon cruise missile. A hypersonic version of the missile is also presently under development (Lab Tested with 5.26 Mach Speed). Though India had wanted the BrahMos to be based on a mid range cruise missile, namely P-700 Granit, instead Russia opted for the shorter range sister of the missile, P-800 Oniks, in order to comply with MTCR restrictions, to which Russia is a signatory. Its propulsion is based on the Russian Yakhont missile, and guidance has been developed by BrahMos Corp. BrahMos claims to have the capability of attacking surface targets as low as 10 meters in altitude. It can gain a speed of Mach 2.8, and has a maximum range of 290 km. The ship-launched and land-based missiles can carry a 200 kg warhead, whereas the aircraft-launched variant (BrahMos A) can carry a 300 kg warhead. It has a two-stage propulsion system, with a solid-propellant rocket for initial acceleration and a liquid-fueled ramjet responsible for sustained supersonic cruise. Air-breathing ramjet propulsion is much more fuel-efficient than rocket propulsion, giving the BrahMos a longer range than a pure rocket-powered missile would achieve. The high speed of the BrahMos likely gives it better target-penetration characteristics than lighter subsonic cruise-missiles such as the Tomahawk. Being twice as heavy and almost four times faster than the Tomahawk, the BrahMos has almost 32 times the initial kinetic energy of a Tomahawk missile (although it pays for this by having only 3/5 the payload and a fraction of the range despite weighing twice as much, suggesting a different tactical paradigm to achieve the objective). Although BrahMos is primarily an anti-ship missile, it can also engage land based targets. It can be launched either in a vertical or inclined position and is capable of covering targets over a 360 degree horizon. The BrahMos missile has an identical configuration for land, sea, and sub-sea platforms. The air-launched version has a smaller booster and additional tail fins for added stability during launch. The BrahMos is currently being configured for aerial deployment with the Su-30MKI as its carrier. sursa: Reuters