thanks for pointing out nothing. I too said 2000 lbs only, so whats the need to paint it in colours and highlight it as if said the GBU-24 was 2000 kgs ?aditp wrote:
Kartik, GBU-24 is 2000 lbs (NOT 2000KGs) ~ equals about 900 Kgs
Brahmos air launched is 2500KGs. Neither would it be possible to lighten the missile enough (it is already lightened from around 4 tons). Nor would it me possible to strengthen the centerline pylon to carry something 2.5 times as heavy.
The point I made was that with suitable structural modifications, a Rafale could carry a 2000 kg weapon on its centerline- it is possible to beef up the centerline max. load with a heavier structure, as is being done for the Su-30MKI. I don't think that anyone on BRF can say outright that its not possible, since only Dassault engineers would know if its impossible or not.
The same was true for the air-launched Brahmos as well- no IAF fighter could carry it, so they reduced its weight, shortened the booster and now are structurally modifying MKIs to carry it. if a requirement is stated, Dassault could look into it.
hence a lightened Brahmos variant, with an even smaller booster and reduced length and a much smaller top speed would definitely reduce weight further. as I mentioned earlier, the kinetic energy of the missile is not useful for a nuke strike, since its not supposed to score a direct hit on a target like regular Brahmos missiles do- rather its supersonic abilities make it an ideal nuke cruise missile because its extremely difficult to shoot down such a missile in its terminal stages or indeed any stage, plus its proven so development time would be much shorter. the only question is whether India could develop a nuclear warhead for such a missile.