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SOURCE: Anand SG / FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG
The scene at India Air force Headquarters will be celebratory since air force will finally be getting its hands on an Air-launched variant of India’s most potent Cruise missile dubbed as BrahMos-A after facing years of constant delays in its development .
Recently IAF’s Specially modified Front line fighter aircraft sukhoi-30MKI carried under its belly a 2.5 tonne monster of Air-launched Cruise missile which can hit its target at nearly Mach 3 speed giving IAF a unique distinction of having in its possession an ALCM which literally can take out any targets , Yes any target even an Aircraft carrier .
BrahMos-A is 500kgs lighter than its land-based variant since its looses its larger booster to accommodate a smaller one and will also have additional tail fins since missile will be launched from Air when aircraft its self-has clocked Mach 0.6 speeds. BrahMos-A will pack a much heavier 300kilos warhead when compared to 200-kilo warhead seen on land/ship based missiles .
Now Comparison
Arch rival Pakistani Air force has in its possession subsonic Ra’ad air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) which is operational with vintage Dassault Mirage III aircraft , while Some Pakistani media reports indicate that Ra’ad ALCM has been integrated into JF-17s and F-16s but there is little evidence to back that claim .
Weight
Ra’ad is just 1100 kgs in weight which is nearly half the weight of BrahMos-A ALCM but packs a 450 kilograms of warhead when compared to 350 kilograms since it lacks the advantage of kinetic energy due to its lower speed to take out heavily fortified targets . Ra’ad is subsonic which means its speed is lower than Mach 1 when compared to Mach 2.9 which
Range
Ra’ad ALCM has claimed range of 350kms to take out its targets which seem to be more than claimed range of 290kms of BrahMos-A ALCM but for a decade now Indian Defence Analyst argued that BrahMos can achieve much more range than claimed due to MTCR regulations and that claim got substantial backing when former BrahMos Aerospace boss A Sivathanu Pillai said that BrahMos can achieve better range if certain profiles are used on its complete mission but leaving that fact aside Ra’ad holds minor advantage in range .
Stealth
Ra’ad due to its stealthier build and design will be difficult to track when flying at tree top level but BrahMos-A does not have any stealth in its design since it doesn’t have to since flying at near Mach 3 speed will ensure enemy will have no time to track BrahMos-A in flight .
Survivability
Speed alone will ensure that no ground-based air-defence systems can intercept BrahMos-A once launched from its launch aircraft . BrahMos-A will also give lesser reaction time to rivals air-defence system team to even try their luck to carry out interception of it , Even when Enemy can see and track Sukhoi-30 approaching in advance little can it do once BrahMos-A is fired from the aircraft which gives BrahMos-A highest survivability ratio of nearly 100 % . Ra’ad can fly low and avoid Radar Line of Sight but it is also slow which means the time required to reach its maximum target range will be more than 12-15 minutes once launched from launch platforms . Once launch platform is tracked its launch too can be recorded , deployment of Radars specifically developed to track small flying objects like an Air-launched cruise missile , UAV’s and other Air-to-Ground missiles will make it easier to track a slow-moving ALCM and with advancement in Air defence missile systems successful interception too can be achieved .
Affordability
Ra’ad enjoys lower production and acquisition cost due to the lower level of technology involved in it . BrahMos-A due to its liquid-fueled ramjet engine and other on board sensors makes it very expensive weapon system which also limits its usage to high-value targets while Pakistan can use cheaper Ra’ad ALCM to take out targets which are poorly defended yet has some level of significant value to its rivals .
Conclusion
Well it’s not fair comparison and some of you will argue that it is like comparing Oranges to Apples since both ALCMs are technological from different class and belong to different league altogether but since Ra’ad and BrahMos-A will be Primarily air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) for their respected air force for few years down the line it seems fair to compare them .
http://idrw.org/battle-alcms-indias-brahmos-vs-pakistans-raad/
The scene at India Air force Headquarters will be celebratory since air force will finally be getting its hands on an Air-launched variant of India’s most potent Cruise missile dubbed as BrahMos-A after facing years of constant delays in its development .
Recently IAF’s Specially modified Front line fighter aircraft sukhoi-30MKI carried under its belly a 2.5 tonne monster of Air-launched Cruise missile which can hit its target at nearly Mach 3 speed giving IAF a unique distinction of having in its possession an ALCM which literally can take out any targets , Yes any target even an Aircraft carrier .
BrahMos-A is 500kgs lighter than its land-based variant since its looses its larger booster to accommodate a smaller one and will also have additional tail fins since missile will be launched from Air when aircraft its self-has clocked Mach 0.6 speeds. BrahMos-A will pack a much heavier 300kilos warhead when compared to 200-kilo warhead seen on land/ship based missiles .
Now Comparison
Arch rival Pakistani Air force has in its possession subsonic Ra’ad air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) which is operational with vintage Dassault Mirage III aircraft , while Some Pakistani media reports indicate that Ra’ad ALCM has been integrated into JF-17s and F-16s but there is little evidence to back that claim .
Weight
Ra’ad is just 1100 kgs in weight which is nearly half the weight of BrahMos-A ALCM but packs a 450 kilograms of warhead when compared to 350 kilograms since it lacks the advantage of kinetic energy due to its lower speed to take out heavily fortified targets . Ra’ad is subsonic which means its speed is lower than Mach 1 when compared to Mach 2.9 which
Range
Ra’ad ALCM has claimed range of 350kms to take out its targets which seem to be more than claimed range of 290kms of BrahMos-A ALCM but for a decade now Indian Defence Analyst argued that BrahMos can achieve much more range than claimed due to MTCR regulations and that claim got substantial backing when former BrahMos Aerospace boss A Sivathanu Pillai said that BrahMos can achieve better range if certain profiles are used on its complete mission but leaving that fact aside Ra’ad holds minor advantage in range .
Stealth
Ra’ad due to its stealthier build and design will be difficult to track when flying at tree top level but BrahMos-A does not have any stealth in its design since it doesn’t have to since flying at near Mach 3 speed will ensure enemy will have no time to track BrahMos-A in flight .
Survivability
Speed alone will ensure that no ground-based air-defence systems can intercept BrahMos-A once launched from its launch aircraft . BrahMos-A will also give lesser reaction time to rivals air-defence system team to even try their luck to carry out interception of it , Even when Enemy can see and track Sukhoi-30 approaching in advance little can it do once BrahMos-A is fired from the aircraft which gives BrahMos-A highest survivability ratio of nearly 100 % . Ra’ad can fly low and avoid Radar Line of Sight but it is also slow which means the time required to reach its maximum target range will be more than 12-15 minutes once launched from launch platforms . Once launch platform is tracked its launch too can be recorded , deployment of Radars specifically developed to track small flying objects like an Air-launched cruise missile , UAV’s and other Air-to-Ground missiles will make it easier to track a slow-moving ALCM and with advancement in Air defence missile systems successful interception too can be achieved .
Affordability
Ra’ad enjoys lower production and acquisition cost due to the lower level of technology involved in it . BrahMos-A due to its liquid-fueled ramjet engine and other on board sensors makes it very expensive weapon system which also limits its usage to high-value targets while Pakistan can use cheaper Ra’ad ALCM to take out targets which are poorly defended yet has some level of significant value to its rivals .
Conclusion
Well it’s not fair comparison and some of you will argue that it is like comparing Oranges to Apples since both ALCMs are technological from different class and belong to different league altogether but since Ra’ad and BrahMos-A will be Primarily air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) for their respected air force for few years down the line it seems fair to compare them .
http://idrw.org/battle-alcms-indias-brahmos-vs-pakistans-raad/
