What are Subsonic, Supersonic and Hypersonic Missiles of India ?

Missiles of India

Guys do you know that there are types of missiles on the basis of speed. These types determine which missile can reach its target faster. There are many other bases like accuracy or destruction power.

In this article you will read about the types of missiles based on speed.

What is a Missile ?

A missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. They can bring mass destruction when they are fired. They play a very crucial role in any defence military category whether it is Army, Navy or Air force. 

On the basis of speed of a missile they can be determined as

Subsonic

Supersonic

Hypersonic

Subsonic missiles 

Nirbhay missiles

Subsonic missiles are slower than the speed of sound. Most well-known missiles. India’s Nirbhay – falls into this category. Subsonic missiles travel at a speed around Mach-0.9 (1,134.5kmph). They are slow and easier to intercept, but they still play a huge role in modern battlefields. Nirbhay is a subsonic cruise missile designed and developed in India by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) which is under Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The missile can be launched from multiple platforms and is capable of carrying conventional and nuclear warheads. It is currently deployed in limited numbers in Line of Actual Control (LAC) during standoff with China

Supersonic missiles

Supersonic missiles

Supersonic is the speed of a missile that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1). Speeds greater than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5) are referred to as hypersonic. India and Russia have jointly developed the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos. There are three versions of the Brahmos: ship/land-launched, air-launched and sub-launched. The ship/land-launched versions were operational as of late 2007. It is claimed to be the world’s fastest Anti-Ship Cruise Missile currently in operation. The Land-launched and Ship-launched versions are already in service. An Air-launched variant of BrahMos appeared in 2012 and entered service in 2019.

Hypersonic Missiles

Hypersonic missile

Hypersonic weapons are missiles and projectiles which travel at between 5 and 25 times the speed of sound – about 1.6 to 8 kilometres per second. Currently China, India, Russia and US have developed fully functional hypersonic weapons in the form of glide vehicles, ballistic missiles, rail guns and air breathing cruise missiles having their own respective independent programs and have demonstrated sustained hypersonic combustion.

India is developing Brahmos-ll which is going to be its fastest hypersonic missile. The BrahMos-II is expected to have a range of 1,000 kilometres and a speed of Mach 8.

References from :- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missiles_by_country#India