Air version of Brahmos readied for Sukhoi jets: Official

The faster air version of the successful supersonic BrahMos cruise missile is being readied for tests on the Sukhoi-30 jets and the weapon is expected to be formally inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) by 2012, a top official said.

A final shape to the hypersonic missile BrahMos-II project being executed by the Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace would emerge shortly, the company CEO and managing director A Sivathanu Pillai told reporters.

Project authorities are awaiting the modified Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft that would be fitted with the sophisticated missile which can travel at speeds between Mach 5 and Mach 7. (Mach 1, which is the speed of sound, is equal to roughly 1,200 km per hour).

After being fitted on an aircraft, BrahMos-II will be the only cruise missile with the capability of being launched from land, sea and air, Pillai said.

The design team had already been lined up and discussions would be held shortly between the joint venture partners on investments, sharing of technical responsibilities, administration and sharing of manufacturing facility infrastructure, he said.

On the new version of BrahMos, Pillai said the preliminary exercise for its induction into the IAF is already on.

The design and development of this version had been fruitful and the advanced missile, which weighs 0.5 tonne less than that of the three-tonne land version BrahMos, was ready.

BrahMos, which has a capability of carrying 300 kg conventional warheads at a speed of around 2.8 Mach, has already been inducted into the Army and the Navy.

Pillai said he was hopeful that the target for induction of the air version set for 2012 would be achieved. 

To a query on the export potential of BrahMos missile, Pillai said a of number countries evinced keen interest in it, but the priority was to meet the high domestic requirement.

For meeting the demand, the company was in the process of upgrading the production infrastructure at multiple locations besides enhancing component suppliers by including new large and medium sized industries. Companies like the Larsen Tubro, Godrej, BEML, BHEL and HAL were in the list.

On BrahMos Aeropsace's Thiruvananthapuram facility, Pillai said seven acres of land in possession of Indian Air Force adjacent to the main campus was expected to be handed over to BrahMos Aerospace shortly.

The facility would be converted into a fully capable Missile Integration Complex to produce components meant for missile programme as well aerospace industries requirement.

The facility would produce core components for ISRO's PSLV and GSLV rockets, missile chambers and control configurations and fabrication of missiles and development of ground system components.

It would also fabricate universal launchers for the aircraft version missiles and is also in the process of obtaining Aerospace Standards Certification AS-9100, he added.