Does India plan to use the Brahmos as an AAM against AEW and AWACs ?
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India’s Brahmos missile: an added target in the air?
By Douglas Barrie , Senior Fellow for Military Aerospace
25th September 2020. International Institute of Strategic Studies
The Russo-Indian joint venture Brahmos Aerospace is reportedly developing a variant of the
Brahmos missile designed to engage airborne early-warning and control aircraft. As Douglas Barrie argues, the reasons behind India’s interest in a very long-range air-to-air missile highlights the continuing importance of command and control in the air domain.
At first glance, the notion of transforming a large, high-speed, sea-skimming anti-ship missile into a long-range air-to-air missile (AAM) might appear far-fetched. But, in the case of India’s
Brahmos, appearances may be deceptive.
In the past, India is believed to have expressed an interest in acquiring or developing a long-range AAM to deal with a specific target set, with Russia as the potential source. Russian missile designer Novator’s KS-172 project was initially considered to meet just such a requirement, but the programme was ultimately shelved. Now, the source is apparently NPO Mashinostroyenia, India’s long-standing partner on the
Brahmos programme.
The Brahmos family
Alexander Maksichev, the co-director of Russo-Indian company Brahmos Aerospace, which produces the
Brahmos missile, is reported in the Russian press as saying a variant of the missile designed to engage airborne early-warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft would be ready by 2024. The original
Brahmos missile was in effect Russia’s 3M55
Onyx (SS-N-26
Strobile) ramjet-powered anti-ship missile. The Indian and Russian governments approved a joint venture in 1998, which provided NPO Mashinostroyenia with sorely needed funds and possibly supported the competition that led to the development of the 3M55. The
Brahmos anti-ship missile is in service with the Indian Navy, while a land-attack variant is also in service with the army. Development of an air-launched variant for the Indian Air Force, the
Brahmos-A, is nearing completion and could begin to enter its inventory before the end of 2020. The air-launched
Brahmos is being integrated on the Su-30MKI fighter/ground-attack (FGA) aircraft.
Alongside the original
Brahmos airframe, an updated, smaller version known as
Brahmos-NG or
Brahmos-M has also been proposed. One option could be also to use the
Brahmos-NG development as the basis for an AAM intended to engage a high-value, low-density target set such as AEW&C and tanker aircraft. India’s interest in this class of weapon may be being spurred in part by increasing numbers of AEW&C aircraft in China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), and also in part by the PLAAF’s pursuit of a similar class of weapon.
The PL-17 designation is associated with a large and very long-range missile currently in development in China. Test rounds have been seen carried by the J-16, an advanced variant of the Su-27
Flanker FGA aircraft in service with the PLAAF. This weapon could begin to enter service in the next couple of years. The missile may have a fly-out range in excess of 400 kilometres.
The numbers game
There are also pragmatic reasons for New Delhi to at least consider a
Brahmos variant in addressing any operational requirement for a counter high-value-aircraft missile. The target set, while important in terms of air warfare, is small. The PLAAF and PLA Naval Aviation together operate only 29 AEW&C aircraft, including four KJ-2000
Mainring in the air force, and around 30 tanker aircraft, according to the Military Balance+ database, while Pakistan only has ten AEW&C aircraft. Even with the addition of large crewed and uninhabited intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft, the total main target set is probably fewer than 100.
Designing and developing a new missile for such a limited number of targets − however important these may be − with the associated cost might be a less attractive option than first trying to adapt, or at least use elements of, an already in-service system. The
Brahmos airframe is less than ideal, with an annular intake placing greater limitations on the seeker size than a conventionally designed AAM. It does, however, use a ramjet sustainer motor, which provides the missile with a comparatively high cruise speed. Furthermore, the missile would remain powered for far longer than if it used a simple solid-rocket motor. And, of course, it is already in production.
The reasons behind India’s possible interest in a very long-range AAM underline the continuing importance of situational awareness and command and control in the air domain, and the need to hold at risk an opponent’s capacity to generate an airborne radar-based air picture of friendly and hostile aircraft. Irrespective of whether or not a variant of the
Brahmos family emerges to fulfil such a role, the underlying rationale is unlikely to disappear.
