Russian Defence Minister visits BrahMos HQ; Parrikar makes Make in India pitch

Bengaluru, Jan 21: Russian Defence Minister General Sergei Shoigu, along with a high-level delegation, visited the headquarters of BrahMos Aerospace Headquarters in New Delhi today.

Praveen Pathak, General Manager, BrahMos Aerospace, told OneIndia that Gen Sergei was given a glimpse of the gen-next BrahMos Mobile Autonomous Launcher (MAL) during the occasion.

"The MAL features were explained by Sudhir Mishra, BrahMos Aerospace, CEO & MD. The MAL has already been inducted by the Indian Army and also in the Indian Air Force for its Land-based Weapon Complex," Praveen said.

During the visit, the Russian Defence Minister was also briefed about the key achievements recorded by the Indian-Russian Joint Venture (JV).

"The minister was completely given an insight into the progress of the JV in the recent years and also all related developments related of the futuristic BrahMos-NG (Next Generation) missile," he added.

Delivery timelines key, says Gen

Appreciating the efforts being made by the BrahMos team in India under the command of Sudhir Mishra, the Russian minister wanted the team to stick to the deadlines so that the missile are delivered to the armed forces on time.

The minister also visited the BrahMos Simulation Centre which showcases the Strike Planning System for Land & Air Versions.

The Minister was briefed on the progress made by the interface of BrahMos air version with Su-30MKI, with the first test launch expected in March 2015. HAL Nasik Division, which is being mandated to undertake the missile integration work on the Sukhoi, had recently conducted the critical Ground Vibration Test (GVT).

OneIndia had earlier reported about the GVT, which was done to assess the dynamic behavior of the modified Sukhoi platform. HAL had conducted the GVT for a total of nine configurations. [HAL conducts critical Ground Vibration Test on modified Sukhoi with BrahMos missile]

The success saga of BrahMos

BrahMos Aerospace has been successfully delivering BrahMos weapon systems to the Indian Armed Forces since 2005. The Indian Army has operationalised the supersonic cruise missile system in its arsenal and further orders are in pipeline.

Indian Navy has installed the universal weapon system on its destroyers and frigates, and many of its newly-built frontline warships will be fitted with BrahMos in the coming years.

The Indian Air Force has also placed orders for land and air-launched version of BrahMos for Su-30MKI aircraft.

The 290-km range tactical missile is slated to be test-flown this year in its air-to-ground configuration.

Parrikar makes Make in India pitch

In a related development, India's Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and visiting Russian Defence Minister reviewed the ongoing area of defence cooperation and projects.

Parrikar spoke about India's ‘Make in India' policy and sought the participation from Russian defence enterprises. [Highlights: Launching 'Make in India' campaign]

"The two leaders also witnessed the signing of an agreement on exchange of Flight Safety Exchange Information. Both ministers expressed satisfaction over the successful conduct of joint exercises conducted individually between Army, Navy and Air Force of both sides in 2014," a Ministry of Defence spo0kesperson said.

OneIndia News