Manmohan Singh to Visit BrahMos Complex

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

New Delhi, Jun 27: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit the BrahMos Aerospace complex in Delhi Cantonment tomorrow to learn about the lethal missile jointly developed with Russia.

Dr Manmohan Singh -- who witnessed the Israeli Barak anti-missile system successfully intercept an incoming Russian P-21 missile from the Indian Navy's aircraft carrier INS Viraat last month -- will be briefed by BrahMos Chief A Sivathanu Pillai and other top officials on the capabilities of the air-breathing missile which flies at a speed of Mach 2.8 (almost three times the speed of sound) to distances up to 300 km at present.

Capable of being launched from a variety of land, sea, sub-sea or air-based platforms, BrahMos (standing for Brahmaputra-Moscow) has already been installed in some frontline warships like destroyer INS Rajput.

The supersonic cruise missile has a superb export potential. With India and Russia having decided to export it to friendly countries, negotiations with several countries like Chile, South Africa and Malaysia are in progress.

It is estimated that there will a 10 Billion Dollar demand for missiles like BrahMos -- since all other current anti-ship missiles either fly at subsonic speeds or have a much shorter range -- in the coming decade.

Adding to BrahMos's punch is its 'fire-and-forget' principle of operation, low radar signature, variety of flight trajectories and high-destructive capability with multiple warheads.

The Government recently allocated more funds to BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between the India's Defence Research and Development Organisation and the Russian NPO Mashinostroyenia, to work towards more than doubling the missile's speed -- to almost Mach 8.

Currently, with contracts worth Rs 3,500 crore already having been signed for its mass production to begin, the Army is now raising a special BrahMos regiment to use it as a precision land-to-land weapon. Moreover, work is well underway to configure it for the Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets.

UNI

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