THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The successful flight-test of the BrahMos missile from a Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter on Wednesday could also be a sign of the good times that lie ahead for the Indo-Russian supersonic missile JV’s ailing Thiruvananthapuram unit.
A key component - the airborne launcher - for the missile tested on Wednesday was manufactured by BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Ltd (BATL), a unit that was referred to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) in September 2014. However, BrahMos CEO and MD Sudhir Mishra told Express on Thursday he expected BATL to exit the purview of BIFR by next year. ‘’Next year we should be out. BATL had made small profits last year and this year,’’ he said, adding ample stress was being laid on fiscal discipline in the company’s operations.
Technically, the airborne launcher forms the interface between the aircraft and the missile. Mishra said the launcher was a ‘100 per cent’ BATL product, and in that, unique. “All airborne launchers in missile programmes, including those used by the Indian Air Force, are imported. BATL perhaps is the first entity to be built here. This makes it unique. BATL has facilities to manufacture, test and qualify the launcher,” Mishra said.
On Wednesday the missile was gravity dropped from the Su-30 fuselage, and the two-stage missile’s engine fired up and straightaway propelled towards the intended target at the sea in the Bay of Bengal, the Defence Ministry had announced after the test.
Nevertheless, the company is yet to keep its launch-day promise that a BrahMos missile fully manufactured at BATL would be rolled out in three years’ time. BATL, a subsidiary of Indo-Russian JV BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd (BAPL), was formed in 2007 by taking over state government-run KELTEC. But the company soon ran into labour problems and was forced to limp along, mired in losses. Seven years after it was formed, the government had no choice but to refer it to BIFR. The name ‘BrahMos’ was coined as a combination of the river names ‘Moskva’ and ‘Brahmaputra.’
BATL diaries
Successful test indicative of better outlook
BATL could be out of BIFR next year
BATL was formed in 2007
Referred to BIFR in 2014
Yet to keep up the launch promise of a fully manufactured BrahMos missile from the facility