India, Russia to jointly develop Hypersonic Cruise Missiles
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director of the Delhi based BrahMos Aerospace Centre A Sivathanu Pillai said here that India and Russia are working towards developing a Hypersonic Cruise Missile, a more advanced version of the BrahMos.
Calling India a leader in the category of the supersonic missile system owing to the success of the BrahMos Cruise Missiles, Pillai, who is also the Chief Controller of the Research and Development wing of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), reiterated that the leadership can be sustained through mutual efforts.
The 2.8 Mach supersonic speed makes the BrahMos unique as all other cruise missiles are sub-sonic at present. It has a much-longer strike range, and is an ultimate force-multiplier.
Pillai also added that India was also contemplating configuring a new weapon system which would be more advanced than Brahmos.
Pillai said Russian Defence Minister Sergei Borisvich Ivanov, during his visit to India in January had held discussions on the ways and means to go beyond BrahMos.
The discussions were on the lines of sustainability and strength to be introduced in the current line of production.
Both partners are looking at improvised and advanced features in the new weapon system which includes pin-pointed accuracy on various types of targets, user-friendly design, more commercial viability and greater cost-effectiveness.
The plan which will bring together specialized panels of experts from both countries, hopes to get crystallised in another six to twelve months, added Pillai.
Pillai also confirmed that an under-sea launch version of BrahMos was ready to be test fired.
Considering the huge market for cruise missiles, it was decided during Russian President Vladimir Putin?s visit to New Delhi during the Republic Day parade, to sell at least 1000 of the jointly-developed BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to friendly countries in the near future. The export version will basically be the anti-ship variant of the 290-kilometre range BrahMos, already inducted into Indian Navy - ZeeNews.com
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