New Delhi: Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos
Aerospace is working on a hypersonic cruise missile that can
touch speeds ranging from five to seven times that of sound.
The cruise missile`s supersonic version for the land
forces can touch speeds of two times the speed of sound and
has a 290-km range.
"The hypersonic version of the BrahMos, to be called
BrahMos-II, is in its design and technological development
stage. It will take some time to mature. But our aim is for it
to touch Mach 5 to 7 speeds, making it the fastest cruise
missile in the world," BrahMos` Chief Executive Officer A
Sivathanu Pillai said at the DefExpo here.
"The hypersonic missile, which will be smaller than
BrahMos-I, will definitely provide an advantage to the Indian
armed forces in future warfare," Pillai said when asked about
the need for the missile.
The hypersonic version of the BrahMos would be built for
its air platforms.
Already, the BrahMos is in the process of developing an
air platform-based supersonic cruise missile and Sukhoi
fighter jets of the IAF have been chosen as the platform for
integrating the missile.
"The BrahMos will be integrated in to the Su-30MKI`s built
in India. But the aircraft would be sent to Russia for fitting
a modified structure for the missile`s integration. We plan to
get it done by 2012," he said.
Apart from the Sukhois, currently being built at the
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited`s (HAL) facility in Bangalore on
a technology transfer from Russia, other systems that would be
Indian in the BrahMos plans are its launchers.
"The whole system including the aircraft would soon go for
dummy trials and the missile integration process onto the
Sukhois should start by next year," he said.
Meanwhile, Russia`s Minister for Trade and Industries
Victor Khrishtenko visited the BrahMos stall at the DefExpo,
where he spoke to reporters about the possibilities of the
Indo-Russian partnership in the field of defence.
Khristenko, giving the example of BrahMos which stood for
Rivers Brahmaputra and Moscow being a joint venture between
the two countries, said the defence cooperation between Indian
and Russia was moving away from a seller-buyer relations to
joint development phase.
He said Russia was now sharing technology with India for
production of defence products within India that included T-90
tanks, Sukhoi aircraft, aviation engines, and military
helicopters.
Referring to the deals signed between the two countries
during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh`s visit to Moscow last
December, Khristenko said the new relationship mandated that
Russia provide after-sales repair and service, apart from
product support, such as spare parts.
PTI
