India's BrahMos‑NG missile program delayed by a year

Development trials for the next‑generation BrahMos‑NG cruise missile have been postponed for at least twelve months after the customer introduced stricter performance requirements, officials said. BrahMos Aerospace Joint Venture Managing Co‑Director Alexander Maksichev told TASS at the International Maritime Defense Show Fleet 2026 that “flight tests of the new‑generation BrahMos‑NG missile have not yet begun due to the fact that the customer has slightly changed its requirements,” and that the redesign will take roughly a year before testing can resume.

The BrahMos‑NG is a clean‑sheet, high‑supersonic missile intended to be lighter and smaller than the current BrahMos, allowing carriage on aircraft such as the Tejas Mk 1A and MiG‑29UPG and potentially on submarines via torpedo‑tube launch. Recent speculation suggests an additional qualitative requirement may be the use of an indigenously developed ramjet engine rather than the Russian‑sourced design, further extending the development schedule. The delay adds another chapter to a project first announced in 2011 and reflects evolving Indian defence‑technology ambitions.