(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — On the evening of March 9, 2022, two neighboring nuclear powers, India and Pakistan, nearly came to the brink of conflict when a BrahMos cruise missile launched by India inadvertently fell into Pakistani territory.
The Indian military stated that the missile, launched from an airbase in Ambala, unintentionally landed in Mian Channu, located in Pakistan’s Punjab region, claiming that the launch was not intentional.
The BrahMos missile, a joint development project between India and Russia, was reportedly unarmed during its accidental launch and subsequent landing in Pakistan.
Following an investigation, the Indian military attributed the unintentional launch to technical issues involving several components of the missile system, specifically citing “combat connectors” as the cause of the mishap.
Additionally, the incident was partly attributed to non-compliance with safety protocols by the involved Indian military personnel.
This acknowledgment by the Indian side marks the first admission of fault since the incident, which nearly escalated to a war with Pakistan two years ago.
Three Indian military officers responsible for the missile unit have been blamed for causing the incident.
However, experts at the Islamabad-based Center for International Strategic Studies (CISS) in Pakistan have outright rejected India’s explanation that the incident stemmed from technical issues related to “combat connectors”.
Pakistani weaponry expert, Dr. Atia Kazmi Ali, have conducted studies suggesting that India’s launch of the cruise missile during a time of peace two years ago was deliberate, aimed at testing Pakistan’s reaction time.
The findings indicate that India’s misinterpretation of Pakistan’s response to the incident could have dangerous implications for future interactions between the two nations.
These experts also recommend that Pakistan adopt a Cold War strategy known as “Launch on Warning” in response to missile launches by adversaries, which would involve a preemptive strike.
The BrahMos missile, developed collaboratively by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM), is a medium-range supersonic cruise missile capable of carrying approximately 200kg of high-explosive payload and can be launched from air, sea, submarine, and coastal platforms.
It has an effective range of around 300km at a speed of Mach 2.8.
Recently, an Indian Navy Rajput-class destroyer conducted a test launch of the BrahMos ER (Extended Range) missile, which can accurately strike land targets up to 800km away, potentially putting any target within Pakistan within its reach, thereby enhancing its tactical threat to Pakistan. — DSA