Chinese CX-1 and BrahMos supersonic cruise missile

Chinese CX-1 During the Zhuhai Airshow, held from 11-16 Nov. China unveiled the new CX-1 supersonic anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM) dev...

Chinese CX-1

During the Zhuhai Airshow, held from 11-16 Nov. China unveiled the new CX-1 supersonic anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM) developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).

The full-size display mock-up sparked a major debate due to its close resemblance with the famous Russian Yakhont and India-Russian BrahMos cruise missiles.

The CX-1 shares the distinctive cone-inlet air intake, a two-stage structure and similar dimensions with the Yakhont and BrahMos. The CX-1 also had the same speed range of Mach 2.8 to 3 and a range of 280 km. The range indicate the missile is likely an export model to comply with the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) maximum range of 300 km.

Russian Yakhont/P-800 Onik

According to media reports, Russian NPO Mashinostroyenia which developed the Yakhont, refuted claims that it transfered the technology for CX-1 missile.

The CX-1 is being developed in two versions: The truck launched land attack variant CX-1B and the ship borne CX-1A anti ship variant.

The two stage CX-1 has a cruising stage and booster. The booster is later ejected ahead of cruising stage. CX-1 is fitted with stabilizer wings on its booster unlike Brahmos or Yakhont missiles. The booster is fitted with four jet vanes for thrust vectoring.

The mach 3 speed imparts very large kinetic energy on impact. Its cruising altitude could be up to 15 km and terminal altitude is as low as 10 meters. It carries a conventional warhead weighing 200 to 300 kgs.
The missile lowers its altitude to 10 meter low-altitude sea-skimming path when it arrives at a distance 10 kilometers away from its target.

Indo-Russian Brahmos Cruise Missile

The NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM), and India’s Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) developed the BrahMos cruise missile based on the P-800 Onik\Yakhont. The propulsion was developed by NPOM and the guidance system was developed by DRDO. Later India completely indigenised the BrahMos production.

BrahMos was intially developed as a anti ship missile, later a land attack variant was also developed and perfected for precision strike. Current variants under development include submarine and air launched versions. BrahMos also have a range of 295 Km and speed of Mach 3 along with a warhead weight of 200-300 kg.

Unlike the CX-1, BrahMos has a liquid-fuelled ramjet engine for the sustained supersonic cruise phase. Air-breathing ramjet propulsion is much more fuel-efficient than rocket propulsion, giving the BrahMos a longer range than a pure rocket-powered missile would achieve.