BrahMos underwater version to be test fired soon

Tiruchirapalli, Aug 2: Chief Executive and Managing Director BrahMos Aerospace Ltd A Sivathanu Pillai has said the underwater version of the BrahMos supersonic missile would be test-fired soon.

In a chat with newspersons here last evening on the sidelines of a medical worksop, he said, ''We are close to the launch of the underwater version. The missile is ready and it is now for the Navy to get the platform ready.'' Mr Pillai said the launch of the air version would take some more time, as some structural modifications needed to be made in the Russian-built Sukhoi aircraft, the platform for this version.

''We have to wait for the availability of the Sukhoi designers,'' he said, adding, ''We have completed 15 flights successfully.'' He also pointed out that the research and development of BrahMos-2, hypersonic missiles that would cruise at the speed of 5-7 Mach, has commenced.

''This is an area where there is tough competition among countries as future wars will be dominated by speed,'' Mr Pillai said.

BrahMos Aerospace would enhance the production capacity and expand the Kerala Hi-Tech Industries, which it took over recently, he said and added that India had become a global leader in missile technology with the development of the BrahMos supersonic missiles.

Describing BrahMos, an Indo-Russian joint venture, as a model, Mr Pillai underlined the need for vision and strong institution industry convergence.

UNI