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" India is ready to sell the world&amp;#039;s fastest anti-ship cruise missile to Vietnam. The BrahMos\u00A0uses ramjet engine technology to achieve speeds of up to Mach 3, making it a deadly addition to Vietnam&amp;#039;s arsenal. BrahMos\u00A0was developed jointly by India and Russia, its name\u00A0a mashup of the Brahmaputra and Moscow Rivers. The missile was developed through the 1990s and early 2000s from the Russian P-800 Oniks anti-ship missile. It is in service with the Indian Armed Forces.\u00A0  This is the fastest low-altitude missile in the world. The missile has two stages.\u00A0The first, consisting of a solid-fuel rocket, accelerates BrahMos to supersonic speeds. The second stage, a liquid-fueled ramjet, accelerates the weapon to Mach 2.8. BrahMos flies as low 32 feet above the wavetops, making it what&amp;#039;s known as a &amp;quot;sea skimmer.&amp;quot;\u00A0This, combined with its blistering speed, makes BrahMos very difficult to intercept: most warships will\u00A0detect the missile only\u00A0as it crests the horizon at a distance of 16 miles, giving them just 28 seconds to track and\u00A0shoot down this hotrod of a missile.\u00A0  Land and ship-based versions of the missile have a range of 180 miles and pack a 440-lb.\u00A0warhead. The aircraft-based version is even bigger, with a range of 310 miles and 660-lb.\u00A0warhead. Even without a warhead, at Mach 3 BrahMos would impart tremendous kinetic energy on its target. In 1987, an Exocet missile slammed into the frigate USS Stark and, although the warhead failed to explode, the missile still did considerable damage to the ship.\u00A0 One country that won&amp;#039;t be happy about this deal? China. China and\u00A0Vietnam are longstanding\u00A0rivals who fought a\u00A0brief shooting war in 1979\u00A0and have active territorial disputes in the South China Sea. If the two countries ever come to blows again, BrahMos would give China&amp;#039;s admirals real pause.\u00A0        Via USNI News "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a21137/the-worlds-fastest-anti-ship-missile-vietnam/>