China Unveils Brahmos Competitor, Calls It ‘World’s Best’ Anti-ship Cruise Missile

China unveiled its CM-302 supersonic missile for international export and says it is the ‘best anti-ship cruise missile’ in the world.

Lyu Xiaoge, spokesman for China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp touted CM-30 as better than the available supersonic anti-ship missile of the likes of the Indo-Russian BrahMos missile, and Russian SSN-26 Strobile.

CM-302 is the best anti-ship missile available on the world’s arms market and “it’s not an exaggeration”, Lyu was quoted as saying by China Daily on the sidelines of the 2016 Zhuhai Airshow Monday.

The justification for the statement is that the missile can fly at supersonic speeds during its entire 290-kilometer trajectory, and it can be mounted on ships, aircraft or ground vehicles. It can be used to knock out land targets as well, Lyu said.

Offerings from competitors do not have such advantages, Lyu said. “They can be supersonic only during one certain part of the flight and can’t be mounted on multiple platforms.”

BrahMos, like CM-302 is a supersonic cruise missile. It is the world’s fastest missile in operation till date with speeds of Mach 2.8 to 3.0. CM-302 is speculated to have 2.5 times the speed of sound. BrahMos has both land and ship launched versions which are already in service and the air and submarine-launched versions are currently in the testing phase. BrahMos-II presently under development is aiming at speed of Mach 7 to 8 to boost aerial fast strike capability. It is expected to be ready for testing by 2017.

CASIC claims CM-302 can fly at supersonic speeds during its entire 290-km (range) trajectory. CM-302 missile using compact solid fuel ramjet engine in high trajectory mode, the maximum range can reach up to 290 km, if the use of sea-skimming low-altitude trajectory, “range will be reduced to some extent.” It can be mounted on ships, aircraft or ground vehicles. BrahMos also flies at a range of 290 km trajectory.

The ship-launched and the land based BrahMos can carry a 200kg warhead whereas the CM-302 can carry up to 250 kg warhead. The air-launched version’s will be test-fired from Su-30MKI by the end of this year. A decommissioned Indian Navy warship is expected to the target for the super-sonic cruise missile traveling at almost three times the speed of sound targeting a range between 300 and 600 km following India’s entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).