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The world is facing climatic changes due to increased anthropogenic interventions in natural cycles in the industrial age. It was realized by the end of the twentieth century that the international fraternity should act together to halt adverse climatic changes produced by industrial and other activities, especially the activities which produce green house gases and excessive carbon emissions, two most important reasons of climatic changes, among others. The following international agreements were made to halt climatic changes:

The Montreal Protocol

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer) is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion. It was agreed on 26 August 1987, and entered into force on 16 September 1989, following a first meeting in Helsinki, May 1989. Since then, it has undergone nine revisions, in 1990 (London), 1991 (Nairobi), 1992 (Copenhagen), 1993 (Bangkok), 1995 (Vienna), 1997 (Montreal), 1998 (Australia), 1999 (Beijing) and 2016 (Kigali). As a result of the international agreement, the ozone hole in Antarctica is slowly recovering. Climate projections indicate that the ozone layer will return to 1980 levels between 2050 and 2070. Due to its widespread adoption and implementation it has been hailed as an example of exceptional international co-operation.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international environmental treaty adopted on 9 May 1992 and opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992. It then entered into force on 21 March 1994, after a sufficient number of countries had ratified it. The UNFCCC objective is to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”. The framework sets non-binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual countries and contains no enforcement mechanisms. Instead, the framework outlines how specific international treaties (called “protocols” or “Agreements”) may be negotiated to specify further action towards the objective of the UNFCCC. The UNFCCC has 197 parties as of December 2015. The convention enjoys broad legitimacy, largely due to its nearly universal membership.[

Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty which extends the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This protocol commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that (part one) global warming is occurring and (part two) it is extremely likely that human-made CO2 emissions have predominantly caused it. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. There are currently 192 parties (Canada withdrew from the protocol, effective December 2012) to the Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol implemented the objective of the UNFCCC to reduce the onset of global warming by reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to “a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system” (Article 2). The Kyoto Protocol applies to the six greenhouse gases listed in Annex A: Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide (N2O), Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).Protocol is based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities: it acknowledges that individual countries have different capabilities in combating climate change, owing to economic development, and therefore puts the obligation to reduce current emissions on developed countries on the basis that they are historically responsible for the current levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The Protocol’s first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012. A second commitment period was agreed in 2012, known as the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol, in which 37 countries have binding targets: Australia, the European Union (and its 28 member states), Belarus, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, and Ukraine. Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine have stated that they may withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol or not put into legal force the Amendment with second round targets. Japan, New Zealand, and Russia have participated in Kyoto’s first-round but have not taken on new targets in the second commitment period. Other developed countries without second-round targets are Canada (which withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2012) and the United States (which has not ratified). As of May 2019, 128 states have accepted the Doha Amendment, while entry into force requires the acceptances of 144 states. Of the 37 countries with binding commitments, 7 have ratified. Negotiations were held in the framework of the yearly UNFCCC Climate Change Conferences on measures to be taken after the second commitment period ends in 2020. This resulted in the 2015 adoption of the Paris Agreement, which is a separate instrument under the UNFCCC rather than an amendment of the Kyoto Protocol.

Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), dealing with greenhouse-gas-emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance, signed in 2016. The agreement’s language was negotiated by representatives of 196 state parties at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in Le Bourget, near Paris, France, and adopted by consensus on 12 December 2015. As of March 2019, 195 UNFCCC members have signed the agreement, and 186 have become party to it. The Paris Agreement’s long-term goal is to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels; and to limit the increase to 1.5 °C, since this would substantially reduce the risks and effects of climate change.

Under the Paris Agreement, each country must determine, plan, and regularly report on the contribution that it undertakes to mitigate global warming. No mechanism forces a country to set a specific target by a specific date, but each target should go beyond previously set targets. In June 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the agreement. Under the agreement, the earliest effective date of withdrawal for the U.S. is November 2020, shortly before the end of President Trump’s current term. In practice, changes in United States policy that are contrary to the Paris Agreement have already been put in place.

In July 2017 French Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot announced a plan to ban all petrol and diesel vehicles in France by 2040 as part of the Paris Agreement. Hulot also stated that France would no longer use coal to produce electricity after 2022 and that up to €4 billion will be invested in boosting energy efficiency. To reach the agreement’s emission targets, Norway will ban the sale of petrol- and diesel-powered cars by 2025; the Netherlands will do the same by 2030. Electric trains running on the Dutch national rail network are already entirely powered by wind energy. The House of Representatives of the Netherlands passed a bill in June 2018 mandating that by 2050 the Netherlands will cut its 1990 greenhouse-gas emissions level by 95%—exceeding the Paris Agreement goals.

COP24: Katowice Climate Package

After the historic Conference of Parties (COP) in 2015 that concluded with the adoption of the Paris Agreement, climate diplomacy has reached another major milestone: delegates at COP24 in Katowice, Poland, agreed on the ‘Katowice Climate Package’ which defines how the Paris Agreement will be implemented globally. It includes provisions on:

• what information needs to be communicated in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs);
• how the enhanced transparency framework (ETF) will be operationalised;
• the process for establishing new targets for climate finance;
• how to conduct the Global Stocktake;
• how to assess progress on the development and transfer of technology.

Work on decisions on market mechanisms will be continued at the upcoming negotiations.

One major element of the Katowice package is the adoption of ETF modalities, procedures and guidelines (MPGs). These apply to all Parties, while providing flexibility for those developing country Parties that need it in the light of their capacities. Such flexibility is self-determined, and countries making use of it will need to explain how they apply it, what the capacity constraints are, and provide time frames for improvements in relation to those capacity constraints. Additionally, information on how a country is improving its reporting should be part of the biennial transparency report.

The MPGs cover the following:

• national inventory report on anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases;
• information necessary to track progress made in implementing and achieving NDCs;
• information related to climate change impacts and adaptation;
• information on financial, technology development and transfer and capacity building support provided and mobilised;
• information on financial, technology development and transfer and capacity building support needed and received;
• technical expert review;
• facilitative, multilateral consideration of progress.

The first biennial transparency report and national inventory report are to be submitted by 2024 at the latest.

Some further work remains to be done in relation to the ETF. In the period up to COP26 in 2020, the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice has to develop a) common reporting tables and tabular formats for the electronic reporting of different types of information, b) outlines of the biennial transparency report, national inventory document and technical expert review report, and c) a training programme for technical experts participating in the technical expert review.

Implementing the ETF

In 2019, all countries will start to reflect on how they can begin implementing the ETF in the light of the MPGs and in their specific country context, including identification of potential support needs. Arrangements for capacity building will continue to provide support to developing countries, with the Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT) remaining a major source to this end. The CBIT was established under Paris Agreement and provides support for developing countries to build institutional and technical capacity for meeting enhanced transparency requirements.

ISRO, India’s pride

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)) is the space agency of the Government of India headquartered in the city of Bengaluru. Its vision is to “harness space technology for national development while pursuing space science research and planetary exploration.” Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was established by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of the Indian Government  under the DAE in 1962, with the urging of scientist Vikram Sarabhai recognizing the need in space research. INCOSPAR grew into ISRO in 1969 also under the DAE.In 1972 Government of India setup a Space Commission and the Department of Space (DOS), bringing ISRO under the DOS. The establishment of ISRO thus institutionalized space research activities in India. It is managed by the Department of Space, which reports to the Prime Minister of India.

India’s first satellite Aryabhata was launched by the Soviet Union on 19 April 1975 from Kapustin Yar using a Kosmos-3M launch vehicle. (It was built by the ISRO) to gain experience in building and operating a satellite in space. India has launched 100 Indian satellites of many types as on 31 January 2018. Satellites have been launched from various vehicles, including those launched by Russian, European and American rockets, as well as those launched indigenously by India. The organisation responsible for India’s satellite program is the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

ISRO also launches satellites for foreign countries. As of November 2018, ISRO has launched 239 satellites for 28 foreign countries. In January 2017, India launched 104 satellites in a single mission, out of which 96 were from the United States and the rest from the Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Israel, UAE and India, by using a single launch vehicle. This eclipsed the previous record of 37 held by Russia.

ISRO Missions in 2018

GSLV-F11 / GSAT-7A Mission- GSLV-F11 successfully launched GSAT-7A, ISRO’s 39th communication satellite, on December 19, 2018 at 1610 hrs (IST) from the Second Launch Pad (SLP) of Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.

GSLV-F11-GSLV-F11 is the 13th flight of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and its 7th flight with indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS).

GSLV – F11- GSLV – F11 is ISRO’s fourth generation launch vehicle with three stages. The four liquid strap-ons and a solid rocket motor at the core form the first stage. The second stage of the vehicle is equipped with high thrust engine using liquid fuel. The Cryogenic Upper Stage forms the third and final stage of the vehicle.

GSAT-7A – GSAT-7A with a lift-off mass of 2250 kg, is a geostationary satellite carrying communication transponders in Ku-band. The Satellite is built to provide communication capability to the users over the Indian region.

GSAT-11 Mission-India’s next generation high throughput communication satellite, GSAT-11 was successfully launched on December 05, 2018 from Kourou launch base, French Guiana by Ariane-5 VA-246. Weighing about 5854 kg, GSAT-11 is the heaviest satellite built by ISRO.
GSAT-11 is the fore-runner in the series of advanced communication satellites with multi-spot beam antenna coverage over Indian mainland and Islands. GSAT-11 will play a vital role in providing broadband services across the country. It will also provide a platform to demonstrate new generation applications. GSAT-11 was launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit and subsequently ISRO’s Master Control Facility at Hassan taken over the control of GSAT-11 to perform the initial orbit raising maneuvers using the Liquid Apogee Motor of the satellite for placing it in circular Geostationary Orbit

PSLV-C43 successfully places HysIS- On November 29, 2018  the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) workhorse, the PSLV, carrying 31 satellites, soared in a trajectory crossing the path of the Sun and sped to inject the country’s Hyper Spectral Imaging Satellite (HysIS), dubbed ‘Sharp Eye’, in its intended orbit. The PSLV C-43 inserted 30 small commercial satellites from various countries into the orbits requested by the customers. The HysIS is is an Earth observation satellite primarily to assist in a wide range of applications in agriculture, forestry, geological environments, coastal zones, among others. The 30 satellites are one each from Australia, Canada, Colombia, Finland, Malaysia, Netherlands and Spain, and 23 from the USA.

GSAT-29- GSAT-29 satellite with a lift-off mass of 3423 kg, is a multi-beam, multiband communication satellite of India, configured around the ISRO’s enhanced I-3K bus. This is the heaviest satellite launched from India. GSAT-29 carries Ka/Ku-band high throughput communication transponders which will bridge the digital divide of users including those in Jammu & Kashmir and North Eastern regions of India. It also carries Q/V-band payload, configured for technology demonstration at higher frequency bands and Geo-stationary High Resolution Camera. carried onboard GSAT-29 spacecraft. An optical communication payload, for the first time, will be utilized for data transmission.

EMISAT- EMISAT is a satellite built around ISRO’s Mini Satellite-2 bus weighing about 436 kg. The satellite was successfully placed in its intended sun-synchronous polar orbit of 748 km height by PSLV-C45 on April 01, 2019. The satellite is intended for electromagnetic spectrum measurement.India’s PSLV-C45 successfully injected EMISAT and 28 international customer satellites into their designated orbits. The PSLV-C45 lifted off at 09:27 Hrs (IST) on April 01, 2019 from the second launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota in its 47th flight. This flight marked the first mission of PSLV-QL, a new variant of PSLV with four strap-on motors.

Some Important Missions of ISRO in  past

Chandrayaan-1 was India’s first lunar probe. It was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisations in October 2008, and operated until August 2009. The mission included a lunar orbiter and an impactor. The mission was a major boost to India’s space program, as India researched and developed its own technology in order to explore the Moon. The vehicle was successfully inserted into lunar orbit on 8 November 2008.

Mars Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan is a spacecraft orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014. It was launched on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is India’s first interplanetary mission and ISRO has become the fourth space agency to reach Mars, after the Soviet space program, NASA, and the European Space Agency. It is the first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit, and the first nation in the world to do so in its first attempt.

ASTROSAT is the first dedicated Indian Astronomy satellite mission launched by ISRO on 28 September 2015, which will be helpful in enable multi-wavelength observations of the celestial bodies and cosmic sources in X-ray and UV spectral bands simultaneously. The scientific payloads cover the Visible (3500–6000 Å…), UV (1300–op Å…), soft and hard X-ray regimes (0.5–8 keV; 3–80 keV). The uniqueness of ASTROSAT lie in its wide spectral coverage extending over visible, UV, soft and hard X-ray regions.

South Asia Satellite was launched on 5 May 2017.This is a satellite which has been developed by ISRO for South Asian Nations. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced this in November 2014 during the 18th SAARC session.

Future Launches

Chandrayaan-2

Chandrayaan-2 is India’s second lunar exploration mission after Chandrayaan-1. Developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the mission is planned to be launched to the Moon by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III). Chandrayaan-2 launch is tentatively scheduled between 9 to 16 July 2019, with landing expected on 6 September 2019.  It includes a lunar orbiter, lander and rover, all developed indigenously. Chandrayaan-2 will attempt to soft land a lander and rover in a high plain between two craters, Manzinus C and Simpelius N, at a latitude of about 70° south. If successful, Chandrayaan-2 will be the first mission to land a rover near the lunar south pole According to ISRO, this mission will use and test various new technologies and conduct new experiments. The wheeled rover will move on the lunar surface and will perform on-site chemical analysis. The data will be relayed to Earth through the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, which will piggyback on the same launch. Chandrayaan-2 will make India the 4th country in the world to soft-land on the moon, a feat achieved only by US, USSR and China till now.

Gaganyaan

Gaganyaan (“Orbital Vehicle”) is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft intended to be the basis of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. The spacecraft is being designed to carry three people, and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with rendezvous and docking capability. In its maiden crewed mission, Indian Space Research Organisation’s largely autonomous 3.7-tonne capsule will orbit the Earth at 400 km (250 mi) altitude for up to seven days with a three-person crew on board. The crewed vehicle is planned to be launched on ISRO’s GSLV Mk III in December 2021. This HAL-manufactured crew module had its first un-crewed experimental flight on 18 December 2014. As of May 2019, design of crew module has been completed.[

ISRO’S 7 Expeditions Including Venus

Six years after landing on Mars, ISRO has decided to step on Venus on 2023. Venus and Earth share similarities in mass, size, composition, density and gravity. K Sivan, Chairman of ISRO, reported that the agency is working on 7 interplanetary missions for the next decade. The whole set include:

1. Exposat Planetary exploration, to study cosmic radiations in 2020
2. Aditya L1, to the sun in 2021
3. Mars Orbiter Mission -2 IN 2022
4. Mission to Venus in 2023
5. Chandrayan 3 or Luner Polar Exploration, in 2024
6. Exoworlds, an exploration outside the solar system in 2028

Understanding PSLV and GSLV

Both PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) and GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) are the satellite-launch vehicles (rockets) developed by ISRO. PSLV is designed mainly to deliver the “earth-observation” or “remote-sensing” satellites with lift-off mass of up to about 1750 Kg to Sun-Synchronous circular polar orbits of 600-900 Km altitude.

The remote sensing satellites orbit the earth from pole-to-pole (at about 98 deg orbital-plane inclination). An orbit is called sun-synchronous when the angle between the line joining the centre of the Earth and the satellite and the Sun is constant throughout the orbit.

Due to their sun-synchronism nature, these orbits are also referred to as “Low Earth Orbit (LEO)” which enables the on-board camera to take images of the earth under the same sun-illumination conditions during each of the repeated visits, the satellite makes over the same area on ground thus making the satellite useful for earth resources monitoring.

Apart from launching the remote sensing satellites to Sun-synchronous polar orbits, the PSLV is also used to launch the satellites of lower lift-off mass of up to about 1400 Kg to the elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

PSLV is a four-staged launch vehicle with first and third stage using solid rocket motors and second and fourth stages using liquid rocket engines. It also uses strap-on motors to augment the thrust provided by the first stage, and depending on the number of these strap-on boosters, the PSLV is classified into its various versions like core-alone version (PSLV-CA), PSLV-G or PSLV-XL variants.

The GSLV is designed mainly to deliver the communication-satellites to the highly elliptical (typically 250 x 36000 Km) Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). The satellite in GTO is further raised to its final destination, viz., Geo-synchronous Earth orbit (GEO) of about 36000 Km altitude (and zero deg inclination on equatorial plane) by firing its in-built on-board engines.

Due to their geo-synchronous nature, the satellites in these orbits appear to remain permanently fixed in the same position in the sky, as viewed from a particular location on Earth, thus avoiding the need of a tracking ground antenna and hence are useful for the communication applications.

Two versions of the GSLV are being developed by ISRO. The first version, GSLV Mk-II, has the capability to launch satellites of lift-off mass of up to 2,500 kg to the GTO and satellites of up to 5,000 kg lift-off mass to the LEO. GSLV MK-II is a three-staged vehicle with first stage using solid rocket motor, second stage using Liquid fuel and the third stage, called Cryogenic Upper Stage, using cryogenic engine.

South Korea launches the world’s first fully-fledged 5G mobile networks on March 29. This is a breakthrough in the use of a frontier and transformational technology. Thus South Korea has claimed to put first claim on control of an innovation that could potentially change the day-to-day lives of billions of people. The superfast communications heralded by fifth-generation wireless technology will ultimately underpin everything from toasters to telephones; from electric cars to power grids.  Although South has claimed first advantage in launching 5G Mobile, there are other competitors trying hard to take the lead including the United States and China (especially its telecom giants including Huawei).

The system will bring smartphones near-instantaneous connectivity — 20 times faster than the existing 4G — allowing users to download entire movies in less than a second. In much of the world – including the US and UK – we will see 5G networks launch in 2019. They’ll be faster than 4G, but you won’t be able to utilize the new speeds with your current handset. You’ll need a 5G phone. However, the majority of phoneslaunching in the near future won’t support the fifth generation network.

What is 5G and its advantages?

Fifth-generation wireless (5G) is the latest iteration of cellular technology, engineered to greatly increase the speed and responsiveness of wireless networks. 5G will also enable a sharp increase in the amount of data transmitted over wireless systems due to more available bandwidth and advanced antenna technology. In the same way that 3G enabled widespread mobile web access and 4G made new applications work ranging from social media to Uber, 5G will herald a new level of connectivity, empowered by speed. Technically speaking, 5G is the next generation of broadband connection.  With any type of 5G connection, you’ll see faster network speeds, but the biggest changes will happen when carriers have all deployed high-frequency millimeter wave technology to tap radio wavelengths that have been unusable in the past. I n current development, 5G is reaching speeds that are twenty times faster than 4GLTE. 4G LTE has a peak speed of 1GB per second; 5G is able to achieve speeds of 20GB per second. … More likely, you’ll get 100MB per second of everyday speeds, whereas 4G currently only offers 10MB per second in everyday speeds. 5G will have Improved precision. 5G uses unique radio frequencies that are higher and more directional than those used by 4G. The directionality of 5G is important because 4G towers send data all over, which can waste power and energy and ultimately weaken access to the internet.

Tech giant Apple has deepened its interest in self-driving cars and now has expanded its fleet of autonomous cars in California, USA making it the second-largest fleet in the state. The news comes in days after Chinese ridesharing firm Didi Chuxing confirming that it will test its own driverless car technology. As per macReports by California Department of Motor Vehicles that now confirms that Apple now has about 55 cars running on public roads – up from 27 units being tested in January 2018.

Apple self-driving car project started with just three vehicles in April 2017 and expanded to 45 vehicles earlier this year with another 10 cars joining the fleet, Apple seems to been making some quick progress in its self-driving project. Reports further confirm Apple now has a total of 83 licensed drivers to take its cars out onto the roads. Currently, all the Apple Cars require a safety driver behind the wheel. The company yet to apply for a permit to drive an unmanned self-driving car required as per new norms set by Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV). Google’s Waymo had applied for such a permit earlier this year.

Now, if things go as per the company’s plan, you could be sitting in an Apple car as early as in 2019. Lexus RX450h has been leading Apple’s autonomous SUV fleet to test its technology. Apple is using the high-tech motor and advanced radar technology including LIDAR equipment and highly sensitive sensors and cameras for an efficient and safe drive. it is believed that Apple plans to license its self-driving technology and will not really build its own cars. Investing heavily in future of mobility and expanding its autonomous car fleet indicates that Apple is ready to take on the challenge in mobility space. Likes of Uber, Google, Lyfy, Samsung are also working on developing autonomous car technology.

If you look at the overall development of this technology, General Motors has about 104 autonomous Chevrolet Cruise in the state and Google’s Waymo has about 51 registered vehicles. Overall, Google’s Waymo’s operation in Arizona has over 600 autonomous minivans plying on the streets and the Alphabet owned company claims to have thousand more on order as it begins to implement its ride-sharing service.

In a milestone breakthrough, BrahMos, was successfully test fired with an indigenous seeker on March 22 at a Pokhran test range in Rajasthan. It is said to be the world’s fastest and most formidable anti-ship cruise missile. This test firing of supersonic missile has given a big boost to government’s ‘Make in India’ campaign as it is  for the first time the country developed a seeker for a missile of this calibre and class. The BrahMos weapon system has been jointly developed by India and Russia and is said to be one of the most formidable and precision-strike weapons in the world. The BrahMos missile that was test fired on March 22 “flew in its designated trajectory and hit the target with pin-point accuracy. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman congratulated BrahMos, DRDO and Indian scientists stating that today’s successfully test firing will bolster national security.

Indigenous seeker or BrahMos – why it’s a big breakthrough

The indigenous seeker has been developed with the joint effort of BrahMos Aerospace MD and CEO Sudhir Mishra and DRDO Secretary Dr S Christopher. Talking about the big acheivement for India’s defence, Sudhir Mishra the CEO & MD of BrahMos Aerospace says, “With today’s successful test flight we taken yet another important step towards building indigenous defence equipment manufacturing capability.” “We have demonstrated that Indian scientists can develop the world’s most advanced technology and equipment.”

Seeker is one of the most critical elements of any missile, honing in on the target and improving the precision strike capability of the weapon system, says Avinash Chander, former DRDO chief and the man behind the Agni missile series. The country will no longer have to depend on help for such an important component of the missile. Also, once the indigenous seeker is tested extensively and proves its capability, the knowledge can be used for other missile systems as well.

BrahMos missile’s successful test comes within months of the weapon system being test-fired for the first time from a Sukhoi-30 MKI. The successful test fire from a Sukhoi-30 MKI was a first for the world since no missile as heavy as BrahMos has ever been fitted on a frontline fighter jet of a nation. Meanwhile, with India becoming a part of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), it has now been able to extend the range of the BrahMos missile from 300 km to around 450 km. BrahMos Aerospace, the joint venture between India and Russia, is already working to extend the missile range from 450 km to 800 km – something that will give India unprecedented fire power against both China and Pakistan.

BrahMos missile – a universal weapons system

BrahMos missile is a universal weapons system that has already been inducted by the Indian Army and Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force is in the process of doing so. The missile derives its name from two rivers – Brahmaputra in India and Moskva in Russia. The BrahMos missile can be fired from land, ships, submarines and fighter jets – a fact that gives it unparalleled capability. Not only that, the BrahMos missile is said to have one of the best test success rates in the world. BrahMos is a two-stage missile which can attain a cruise speed of 2.8 Mach. The missile can carry a conventional warhead of almost 300 kg. On sea, it can be launched both in the vertical and the inclined configuration.  The BrahMos missle has also generated a lot of export interest from various countries including Vietnam, Chile.