Even a 'near hypersonic' Brahmos is pure terror for our enemies. You're correct, a full on hypersonic Brahmos(Zircon) is coming only post 2027. But even if current Brahmos hits aprox. Mach 5 for few seconds in cruise or terminal phase, its kinetic impact and ability to evade IADS would increase by manyfold.If it touches speeds of upto Mach -5 , how's it hypersonic ? IMO we're simply getting carried away . Our hypersonic program is proceeding on track . We haven't reached there yet though we'd get there by the end of the decade if not before.
When the CMD Brahmos himself has gone on record during AI-23 , stating we'd take 7 yrs from date to develop a hypersonic version plus we've it from fairly reliable sources the Russians would share Zircon technology after 2027 , where did this hypersonic missile come from ?
So, this test was very important in that regard.




