NEW DELHI: The Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace is ready to test by this year end a smaller version of its 290-km eponymous supersonic cruise missile for deployment on combat aircraft and submarines.
BrahMos chief A Sivathanu Pillai also supported the idea of the country relying on its own weapons and systems to meet the needs of its armed forces, saying that Indian defence scientists and production agencies have proved their capabilities in this regard.
At a function here to release a book on BrahMos he has penned, Pillai said the Indo-Russian firm was preparing for the trials of the BrahMos mini-missile on a combat aircraft by December.
“The BrahMos-Mini would be developed by reducing the size of the booster and engine and reducing its weight. The missile will then be ready for deployment on submarines and smaller fighter aircraft,” he said.
Pillai, who has had a 15-year stint as BrahMos chief, said the company is working towards getting the missile fitted on the planned Indo-Russian Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft and smaller warplanes such as the MiG 29K of the Navy.
He said modifications were being done by HAL on the Su-30MKI aircraft for firing the air-launched version of the missile and that significant progress had been made in developing its launcher and other related systems.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is working to ensure that BrahMos missiles are inducted into the Russian forces, despite a ban inducting any weapon system produced outside the country, he said.
Asked if banning the import of weapon systems would help India develop its own systems, he said such a mechanism could help the country, as Indian scientists had developed several systems on their own during the era of global restrictions and sanctions against technology transfer.
He said the BrahMos Aerospace was set up with a capital of $300 million and now it has orders worth over $6 billion for supplying systems to the 3 armed forces.