Indian Navy has to take call on inducting Brahmos' submarine version

Brahmos Aerospace, an Indo-Russia joint venture and manufacturer of the cruise missile, is awaiting decision from the Indian Navy, to induct its submarine version, a top official said on Friday.

Brahmos has successfully test fired the underwater version in March last and "Indian Navy has to take a decision in this regard (induction)," A Shivathanu Pillai, Brahmos CEO, told reporters here.

Shivathanu Pillai, who was here to address the heads of various department and students of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, said the company recently test-fired the missile on Salvo mode.

 

After the successful test firing, eight cruise missiles could be fired on Salvo mode in the future, at different targets, he said.

Boosting Navy's firepower, the 290km-range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successfully fired from a naval warship INS Trikand in salvo mode in the Arabian Sea recently.

On export of the cruise missiles, he said so far no decision has been taken for exports, since the requirement in Indian defence was very huge.

DRDO was continuously working to keep Indian soldiers healthy and energetic and trying to find food from ordinary things available in the nature.

It had developed an anti-oxidant juice from sea buck thorn, which were being marketed across the country, he said.

To promote research in biotechnology and nano-technology, DRDO has already set up a Centre for Life Sciences in Bharathiar University here and provided Rs 18 crore for the phase one project.

Another Rs seven crore was recently sanctioned for the phase-two out of Rs 22 crore, and the University will work with Agricultural University in the field of bio and nano technology, for benefit of farmers, he added.

In his address to students, Pillai said with shortage of water in India, researchers, scientists and farmers have to depend totally on technology, to get higher yield and production, to achieve the food security.

Dwelling on expert systems for agriculture, like space technology, solar and nuclear technologies, he said India has become food surplus now, by producing 262.7 million tonnes of foodgrains at the end of green revolution and second green revolution has set a target of 400 million tonnes by 2020.

BrahMos Aerospace to develop tech for hypersonic missiles

BrahMos Aerospace, an Indo-Russian joint venture, has initiated efforts to develop technology for hypersonic version of the BrahMos missile which can travel at five to seven times the speed of sound, a top company official has said.

 "The company is roping in academics to develop the requisite technology before going in for designing and developing missiles which can travel at Mach 5 to 7 (five to seven times the speed of sound). It will be BrahMos II version next to the present variants of Mach 2.8 to 3.5," A Sivathanu Pillai MD & CEO of the company told PTI.

He said the IISc, Bangalore, would collaborate with the company with a 20 member scientists' team developing technologies for high temperature material required to build the missile, cram-jet propulsions and energy modules and the requisite algorithms.

A separate centre has been created for this purpose in Indian Institute of Science while its Russian counterpart, the Moscow Institute of Aviation, would produce technologies for propulsion, kinetic energy modules for the hypersonic version.

In all probability, it would take a minimum of five years for these initiatives to crystallise. In the meantime, BrahMos would work out blueprints for setting up a production centre, choice of vendors for supply of necessary components and investment structure, he said.

After these operations, BrahMos Aerospace would take up development of missiles that can come back to the originating mode after destroying the designated target, he said.

Pillai said modernisation and expansion of manufacturing facilities at Hyderabad and Thriuvananthapuram are also on the cards since the domestic market demand is on the increase.

He said the Indian Air Force had also started placing orders for BrahMos and added that the Army and the Navy are regular customers.

Pillai was here to participate in a felicitation function held in his honour on being conferred the Padma Bhushan Award.

India - State to assemble BrahMos air version

The world's heaviest supersonic air-to-ground missile will be made in Kerala. The integration of the air version of supersonic missiles is all set to begin at BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Limited (BATL).

The integration complex, where missile parts from various defence research and development centres will be pieced together, will produce 12 missiles a year.

The 2.5-tonne air version will be fitted on Sukhoi fighters

10 facts you should know about India's pride 'BrahMos'

BrahMos is a stealth supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land.

It is a joint venture between Republic of India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russian Federation's NPO Mashinostroeyenia who have together formed BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited.

It is the world's fastest cruise missile in operation. The missile travels at speeds of Mach 2.8 to 3.0.

The land launched and ship launched versions are already in service with air launched and submarine launched versions currently under testing phase.

A hypersonic version of the missile is also presently under development with speed of Mach 7 to boost aerial fast strike capability. It is expected to be ready for testing by 2017.

 1. BrahMos is a joint venture of India and Russia who have together formed BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited. The missile is named after two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.

It is jointly developed by DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organization) of India and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroeyenia.

2. It's claimed that BrahMos missiles are the fastest cruise missiles in operation in the world.

3. They can travel close to the surface of the Earth which makes them very difficult to detect. BrahMos claims to have the capability of attacking surface targets by flying as low as 10 metres in altitude.

4. The supersonic missile is capable of carrying conventional warheads of up to 300 kg for a range of 290 km.

5. BrahMos is four times faster and is twice as heavier than US' Tomahawk missile. BrahMos has 32 times the initial kinetic energy of a Tomahawk missile.

6. Brahmos was first test fired on June 12, 2001 from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur in a vertical launch configuration.

7. The two-stage missile, the first one being solid and the second one ramjet liquid propellant, has already been inducted into the Army and Navy, and the Air Force version is in final stage of trial.

8.  BrahMos Aerospace is also working to develop the air as well as the submarine launch version of the missile system.

9. The two-stage missile, the first one being solid and the second one ramjet liquid propellant, has already been inducted into the Army and Navy, and the Air Force version is in final stage of trial, a defence official said.

10. India and Russia intend to make 2,000 BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles over the next 10 years.

India/Russia - BrahMos to test submarine-based launch by year-end

BrahMos, the Russian-Indian supersonic cruise missile joint venture, is to test-fire its anti-ship version from a submarine platform by year-end, the venture's Russian partner NPO Mashinostroyenie said Friday.

"We need a test-launch by the end of the year," said the company's deputy general director Alexander Dergachev.

"A decision will be made on whether the weapon can be accepted for service with the Indian Navy, dependent on the outcome," he added.

The test will be a single demonstration firing from a submerged raft, he said.

"When an operational carrier has been chosen, then further trials will continue," he said.

BrahMos, set up in 1998, produces three variants of the cruise missile, based on the NPO Mashinostroyenie 3M55 Yakhont (NATO SS-N-26) supersonic cruise missile already in service with Russia's Armed Forces.

The Indian Army has already taken delivery of the land-launched variant. The navy already has the ship-launched missiles on ten vessels, Dergachev said.

The Indian Air Force will also use the weapon from an upgraded batch of 42 Sukhoi Su-30MKI strike fighters it is expected to order later this year, Russia's Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said earlier this week in Delhi.

"The missile has a range of 300 km, and will be vertically-launched by a gas generator in its launch container, which will eject the weapon by gas pressure, after which it will reach Mach-2," he said.

BrahMos can fly as low as 10 metres or attack its target from a high angle, combined with supersonic speed and evasive maneuvering. BrahMos can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kg.

Earlier this week, Russian daily Izvestia quoted defence industry sources as saying India has uprated its BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles by installing the advanced satellite navigation systems from Russia's Kh-555 and Kh-101 strategic long-range cruise missiles.

Russian 'Super-Holding' to Build Hypersonic Missile -Rogozin

Russia will set up an aerospace "super-holding" company consisting of missile makers NPO Mashinostroyenie and Tactical Missiles Corporation to develop hypersonic weapon technology, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Wednesday.

"Initially, we are talking about a big 'super-holding' based on Tactical Missiles Corporation and NPO Mashinostroyenie," said Rogozin, who oversees Russia's military-industrial complex.

Discussions on the creation of such a super-holding have been underway at least six months, Rogozin said.

"We have found an acceptable solution on how to form this super-holding," he said. "The main idea for this holding is hypersonic technology."

Development of hypersonic weapons - meaning those capable of flying at several times the speed of sound, generally with scramjet engines - has been a pet theme of Rogozin.

In May, during a visit to Tactical Missiles Corporation's NPO Raduga missile design bureau, Rogozin called on Russia's defense industry to develop hypersonic air-breathing weapons as a future strike system.

He picked out American development work in the X-51, Falcon, HiFire and HyFly programs as examples of what he described as the perspective threat posed by U.S. hypersonic development work.

"The undertaking of this work allows us to lay the basis for the creation of a national competitor in hypersonic weapons," he said.

He has since frequently repeated his call for hypersonic weapons to be developed as a replacement for the Russian Air Force's existing long-range bomber fleet.

"I think we need to go down the route of hypersonic technology and we are moving in that direction and are not falling behind the Americans," he said on Rossiya 24 TV in August. "We will use this technology when developing a new bomber."

"The question is whether we will copy the Americans' forty-year experience and create a [Northrop] B-2 analog...or will we go down a new, ultramodern technology route, looking to the horizon, and create a machine able to penetrate air defenses and carry out a strike on any aggressor," he added.

Aerospace analysts contacted by RIA Novosti say hypersonic technology is more likely to be relevant to an air-launched weapon itself, rather than a manned aircraft.

Tactical Missiles Corporation, based in Korolyov, Moscow Region, was formed in 2002 by amalgamating a number of defense design and production enterprises, of which the main ones were Korolyov-based Zvezda-Strela (tactical air-to-surface missiles), Moscow-based Vympel (tactical air-to-air missiles), NPO Raduga (cruise missile design), and Region (tactical air-launched weapons).

NPO Mashinostroyenie, based at Reutov just east of Moscow, has designed and produced most of the Russian Navy's submarine-launched cruise missiles as well as satellites and other space systems, and has previously conducted extensive research into hypersonic weapons technology, including making a prototype hypersonic air-launched missile called GELA.

NPO Mashinostroyenie is also the Russian partner in the BrahMos joint venture with India to develop the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, based on the Russian 3M55 Oniks. BrahMos has said it is developing a hypersonic successor system to its existing supersonic missiles in partnership with India.

India missile deployment plan makes China see red

India's plans to deploy BrahMos supersonic missiles in Arunachal Pradesh along the border with China is a matter of "concern", a state-run daily here said on Wednesday.

Referring to the successful testing of 290 km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile by India on Sunday, a report in the state-run Chinese edition of the Global Times said "the concern is because India has declared the deployment of three groups of these missiles to enhance deterrence" at the Sino-Arunachal Pradesh border.

China refers to Arunachal Pradesh as "Southern Tibet". At the same time, the daily quoted analysts as saying that while China and India have developed military infrastructure at the frontiers, a war between the two nuclear states is not an option and the border posturing is a way to "find a compromise point".

It also highlighted the Indo-Russian cooperation in developing the BrahMos missile. The new BrahMos regiment is equipped with the Block-III model which has wide angle plunging capacity and is capable of striking behind mountains, the daily said.

India - Army conducts successful user trial of BrahMos

In a bid to give a cutting edge to its missile prowess, India today successfully test fired BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the integrated test range at Chandipur off Odisha coast.

The missile with a flight range of up to 290 km is capable of carrying a conventional warhead of 300 kg, a defence official said, adding the missile, a surface-to- surface Army version, was test fired as part of user trial by the Army.

The cruise missile was test fired from a ground mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of ITR at about 1030 hours and all data was retrieved for analysis, defence sources said.

"It was an experimental flight and the missile was tested successfully," ITR Director M V K V Prasad said. The two-stage missile, the first one being solid and the second one ramjet liquid propellant, has already been inducted into the Army and Navy and the Air-Force version is in final stage of trial, he said.

While induction of the first version of sophisticated Brahmos missile system in the Indian Navy commenced from 2005 with INS Rajput, it is now fully operational with two regiments of the Army.

The air launch version and the submarine launch version of the missile system are in progress, he said.  The Army has so far placed orders for the Brahmos missile to be deployed by three regiments of the Army and two of them have already been inducted operationally.

The Defence Ministry has also given a go-ahead to Army to induct a third regiment equipped with the missile system to be deployed in Arunachal Pradesh along the China border.

Brahmos Aerospace, an Indo-Russian joint venture company headed by a distinguished Indian defence scientist, is also working to develop the air as well as the submarine launch version of the missile system and work on the project is in progress.

The last trial of Brahmos was conducted successfully on March 28, 2012 from the same base.

Russia likely to induct BrahMos in navy

The BrahMos Missiles developed jointly by India and Russia are likely to be inducted in the Russian navy, said CEO of BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited, A Sivathanu Pillai. He was addressing the press on the sidelines of the seventh international congress of the Association of Minimal Access Surgeons of India (AMASI) in the city on Saturday.

Pillai said Dmitry Rogozin, Russian deputy prime minister, had visited the BrahMos complex in New Delhi a few days ago and had hailed BrahMos as a model of collaboration not only in technology but in politics as well. Pillai said the BrahMos missiles, which have been hailed for its accuracy and capability, may be adapted by the Russian navy in the near future. This was not the case earlier since the defence priorities of India and Russia were different, Pillai said. However, BrahMos, which has production plants in both the countries, are not planning to export the missiles, he said. There is also a plan to develop a new version of the missile, which can be deployed in submarines. These will be tested underwater in the coming months.

Later, addressing the AMASI conference Pillai said that defence agencies including the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) have shown that they could help develop equipments and technologies in health care. DRDO in collaboration with IIT Delhi had come out with a knee joint which was composite, light and flexible. This model was lighter and cheaper than what was made conventionally. Around 40,000 models were distributed till date, he said. They are also working on other projects where they could develop technologies for developing 2D CT scan and 3D CT scan pictures. This would help doctors, he said. Similarly, nano bio medical sensors could help detect cancer and AIDS at early staged, he said.

India pitches for BrahMos missile induction in Russian naval fleet

India on Tuesday asked Russia to start inducting the 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles in its naval fleet to further strengthen the joint venture between the two countries.

The two sides had formed the joint venture to produce the supersonic cruise missiles in 1998 and since then, all three wings of the Indian armed forces have ordered BrahMos for their inventory but the Russian side is yet to do so.

In India, the Navy and the Army have already inducted the BrahMos missiles and work is on to develop an air-launched version of the missile to be equipped on the SU-30MKI aircraft.

During the visit of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin to the BrahMos complex here, head of the Joint Venture A Sivathanu Pillai urged the visiting dignitary to ensure induction of the missile in Russian Navy, officials said here.

The Russian deputy prime minister was given a presentation about the missile's capabilities and recent achievements along with live demonstration of the mobile launcher.

Assuring his full support to the BrahMos CEO, Rogozin said, "BrahMos is not only a successful joint venture but also a model for cooperation which has immense political value for our two countries."

During the visit, Rogozin was also shown the development of the various variants of the missiles and the future plans of the joint venture company including a futuristic vision plan--2050.

Rogozin was accompanied by Russian Ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin, Head of United Aircraft Cooperation Pogosyn Mikhail and Head of Rosoboronexport Isykin Anatoli during the visit to the complex.

Work on submarine launched BrahMos in final stages

The work on launch of submarine variant of supersonic cruise missile BrahMos was in the final stages, a top official of the Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace said today.

"Yes we are on the job and it is in the final stages," BrahMos Aerospace CEO and MD Dr A Sivathanu Pillai told reporters here when asked about the submarine launched-missile.

Sea and ground-launched versions have been successfully tested and put into service with the Indian Army and Navy. The flight tests of the airborne version will be completed by the end of 2012.

Pillai said the Hypersonic version of Brahmos-2 cruise missile will be ready for launch in another five years.

With the research on propulsion of scramjet underway, the hypersonic missile, with four times speed that the present Supersonic missile, would be ready for induction into Indian forces by 2017.

With a 300 million Dollars investment, the company, a Indo-Russian joint venture, was doing a business of five billion dollars at present, he said.

However, he said the company would think of large scale exports only after meeting the requirements of Indian armed forces.