The Hindu : National : India, Russia to develop air-launched BrahMos

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Monday, Dec 06, 2004

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National

India, Russia to develop air-launched BrahMos

By T.S. Subramanian

CHENNAI, DEC. 5. The governments of India and Russia have approved the development of the air-launched version of BrahMos, the supersonic cruise missile jointly developed by both nations. This version of BrahMos would be integrated with Sukhoi-30 MKI (Mark India) multi-role fighter aircraft. The timeframe for proving this version is two years. Thus the Indian Air Force (IAF) too will be equipped with BrahMos.

(Sukhoi-30 MKI is a Russian product. The first Sukhoi-30 MKI to be built in India was handed over to the IAF at Nasik, Maharashtra, on November 29, 2004. Although it was assembled mainly from the Russian-supplied knocked down kit, it was fitted with major avionic systems such as the mission computer, radar computer and radar warning system that were developed in India.)

The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, inaugurated the BrahMos Aerospace Headquarters complex in New Delhi yesterday. He spent more than an hour in the complex, visiting its various centres. These centres relate to the BrahMos design group, training and documentation, project management, international cooperation and an exhibition.

The President, A.P.J. Kalam, todayvisited the complex and spent about two hours. Addressing the staff there, Mr. Kalam stressed that thrust should be given to the marketing of BrahMos. He said BrahMos was the most competitive missile system and it should, therefore, be marketed at the

Earliest for friendly countries of the Third World. If it was not marketed in time, other competitive missiles would be produced in five years.

A. Sivathanu Pillai, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, BrahMos Aerospace, New Delhi, received Mr. Kalam at the complex.

Lighter version

The IAF version of BrahMos will be lighter than the Naval version which weighs three tonnes. But the range will be the same. The IAF version will have an improved booster and a modified nose cap.

An Army version of BrahMos is getting ready and it would be fired from a mobile launch complex on ground towards a land target. Thus it would be fired from land to destroy enemy targets on land. Of the eight flights of BrahMos so far from the Integrated-Test-Range at Chandipur-on-Sea, Orissa, the seventh flight on June 13, 2004 was from a mobile launch complex called TATRA. It was an Army version.

The ship-launched version has already been proved with three successful flights from an Indian naval ship and the Navy is happy with the missile's performance. The BrahMos is essentially an anti-ship missile that can be launched from ships, submarines and silos on land. According to Dr. Pillai, a ship of the Indian Navy would be fully fitted with a BrahMos operational system in 2005.

Informed sources said that when Mr. Putin visited the complex he called the missile "a real joint venture between Russia and India, which showcases the strength of both the countries." He was happy that all its eight flights were a success and that many Indian and Russian industries were manufacturing components that went into its making. Mr. Putin was accompanied by Alexandre Leonov, Chairman of the BrahMos Board and the First Deputy Director-General of NPO Mashinostroyenia, and design teams. The NPO Mashinostroyenia is the Russian partner in the BrahMos joint venture.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is the Indian partner. Those present during Mr. Putin's visit included the Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee; the External Affairs Minister, K. Natwar Singh; the Chief of Air Staff, IAF, Air Chief Marshal S. Krishnaswamy; Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, M. Natarajan; and the Secretary, Defence Production, Shekhar Dutt.

An exhibition at the complex features the contributions of Mr. Kalam, himself a missile technologist, and Herbert A. Yefremov, chief of NPO Mashinostroyenia — the two who founded the joint venture BrahMos — to missile systems of their nations.

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