The Hindu : National : Army has placed orders: Sivathanu Pillai

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Friday, Jul 28, 2006

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Army has placed orders: Sivathanu Pillai

T.S. Subramanian

CHENNAI: Besides the Navy, the Army has placed orders for the land-to-land version of the BrahMos missile, according to A. Sivathanu Pillai, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited, New Delhi.

In a recent interview, he said, "We are now preparing for the trials of the air version of the BrahMos missile" which would take place by the end of 2007. The Indian Air Force's Sukhoi-30 MKI (Mark India) would try out the missile.

According to Dr. Sivathanu Pillai, the Navy had placed orders for the BrahMos missile, which would be fitted into several ships.

"Production [of the missile] is in full swing," he said.

There have been 12 flights of BrahMos so far and all of them have been successful. The first flight was on June 12, 2001 and the 12th flight was on May 31, 2006. Out of these 12 flights, four were from a Naval vessel, six were from land to sea, and two from land to land at the Pokhran range in Rajasthan.

Sources in the Defence Research and Development Organisationsaid that if one BrahMos missile were to be fitted into the Sukhoi-30 MKI, no structural changes needed to be made in the aircraft. But the aircraft's wings would have to be strengthened.

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