From Russia to India: BrahMos ex-chief explains why it’s called a ‘hittile’

Co-developed by India and Russia, BrahMos is regarded as the world’s fastest cruise missile and has now transitioned from a strategic deterrent to an operational combat weapon.

India’s BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was used in combat for the first time during Operation Sindoor between May 7 and May 10, which targeted critical Pakistani military infrastructure.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has credited the missile’s precision and speed with giving Pakistan “sleepless nights.”

Co-developed by India and Russia, BrahMos is regarded as the world’s fastest cruise missile and has now transitioned from a strategic deterrent to an operational combat weapon. Capable of speeds up to Mach 3 and striking targets over 400 km away, BrahMos combines high velocity, low radar cross-section, and pinpoint accuracy to evade interception.

Atul D Rane, former Director General of BrahMos Aerospace, describes the missile as exceptionally agile and hard to detect. “It’s a sleek, high-speed missile with a low radar cross-section. Speed is its biggest advantage....what more could you ask for?” he has said in an interview to NDTV.

“Its precision is so sharp, it’s been dubbed the ‘hittile’ - a blend of ‘hit’ and ‘missile’ - for its near-perfect strike accuracy.”

Rane, cited by NDTV, says that the BrahMos missile has evolved from relying almost entirely on Russian components to being predominantly Indian, with indigenous content rising from just 7 percent at inception to 84 percent today, while deployed systems currently contain around 74-75 percent Indian parts owing to ongoing testing and certification.

Integration with the Indian Air Force’s Su-30MKI fighters presented a major engineering milestone, with the missile now being the heaviest ever mounted on an Indian aircraft. Rane also revealed that more than 200-300 engineers and HAL experts have worked on this.

The missile has also matured into a multi-role platform, with surface variants deployable across Navy ships and Army mobile units. Looking ahead, work is underway on a hypersonic version and a compact BrahMos-NG, which could be mounted on lighter aircraft like Tejas, it has been learnt from the NDTV report.

PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had earlier confirmed that India’s Armed Forces carried out deep strikes into Pakistan using BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles during Operation Sindoor, launched in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.

Addressing a public event in Kanpur on Friday, PM Modi praised the Indian military for penetrating “hundreds of miles inside Pakistan” to destroy terror camps. “Our Armed Forces showed such courage that the Pakistan Army ended up begging to stop the war,” PM Modi noted, adding that BrahMos strikes gave the Pakistani military “sleepless nights.”

Earlier, on May 18, Shah had revealed that BrahMos missiles had directly hit Pakistani air bases, marking a significant escalation beyond previous operations restricted to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. “Our indigenously developed BrahMos destroyed Pakistan’s air bases, while its Chinese-supplied air defence system remained unused,” Shah had said. “Our Air Force inflicted heavy damage on places once considered impregnable.”

He called Operation Sindoor a turning point in India’s counter-terrorism strategy and said it would be remembered as a milestone in border defence. The offensive, according to Shah, struck 100 km into Pakistani territory and dismantled key terror hubs used to launch attacks on Indian soil.