In a landmark development in
the defence history of the country, the President and the Supreme Commander of
the Armed Forces Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam handed over a replica of the mobile autonomous
launchers of the BrahMos land system to the Chief of Army Staff Gen J J Singh,
symbolizing the commencement of delivery of the supersonic cruise missiles to
the Indian Army, at a function here today. The missile is launched from a Transport Launch
Canister (TLC) which also acts as storage and transport container.
The
Government had approved induction of three regiments of BrahMos Missile system
in the Indian Army out of which the Army had initially placed the requirement
for one regiment. The delivery of this
system was to start from July 2008. However, for early operationalisation of the
missile system, the delivery of one Mobile Command Post and two Mobile Autonomous
Launchers has been advanced by one year.
The
function was attended among others by the Defence Minister Shri A K Antony, the
Minister of State for Defence Shri M M Pallam Raju, Scientific Advisor to Raksha
Mantri Shri M Natrajan, the Ambassador of Russia to India Mr. Vyacheslav Trubnikov
and the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of BrahMos Aerospace Dr.
A Sivathanu Pillai.
Speaking
on the occasion, the President Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam said we have to aggressively
market this world-class product which will have a market shelf life of not more
than 5 years. He said there will be competitors
who would be developing contemporary products which will be detrimental to the
market leadership. ‘No smart developer can afford to lose the competitive edge
which he has generated and hence increasing the orders and continuously improving
the products have to be aggressively pursued’, he said.
The President said, time has come for BrahMos Aerospace to work
on Mark-II version of BrahMos so that it will still be the market leader in hyper-sonic
cruise missiles. ‘In the emerging network centric warfare scenario, the fast deployment
of hypersonic missile systems will be necessary to maintain our force level supremacy.
I visualize long range hypersonic cruise missiles not only delivering pay loads
but also returning to the base after the mission, leading to re-usable class of
cruise missiles within the next decade. It is time that the three services work
with the team of BrahMos Aerospace to evolve the QR for such a system in a time
bound manner’, he said.
Describing the BrahMos joint
venture programme between Indian and Russia as a ‘great template’ for international
cooperation, the President said it combined the core competence of the two countries
for realizing a high-technology product in an extremely competitive global defence
market with minimum investment from each side.
The President also handed over
61 documents relating to operation and maintenance of each system of BrahMos to
Gen. J J Singh.
The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan
Singh in a message on the occasion described the BrahMos system as one of the
most advanced supersonic cruise missiles comparable to the best in the world and
said, it is an excellent model of high technology cooperation between India and
Russian Federation.
The Defence Minister Shri A K Antony said that the induction of BrahMos
weapon system will catapult India with the most powerful supersonic cruise missile
which can precisely hit the target. He said the capabilities of the missile system which have been proved
through a series of successful flight trials, will bolster the Indian Army and
enhance the defence preparedness of the nation. ‘In the changing face of the war theatre, induction
of BrahMos and similar high-technology systems will play a commanding role in
protecting the nation’s interests’.
Shri Antony however said that
production orders to the required quantity must be made to make the joint venture
economically viable. In order to cater
to the growing demands of the Indian and Russian Armed Forces and export market
the production activities have to be geared up to meet the growing demands, he
said.
The Chief of Army Staff Gen
J J Singh said that he had witnessed two launches of the BrahMos system in the
desert and was confident that the missile system will be a force multiplier in
our strategic armoury.
Speaking on the occasion Dr.
Pillai said, when all four versions of BrahMos – Ship, Mobile Complex, Air and
Submarine launched missiles are used in a seamless integration among the various services, it will effectively
destroy any kind of threat. ‘BrahMos will be a war winner and will play a crucial
role in the future warfare’, he said. Dr. Pillai said that DRDO has played a very important role in the
development of a number of systems for the missile and ground complex and continues
to work on many developmental efforts including INS + Glonass integration, seeker,
improved operational software in the network centric warfare, in close coordination
with the Services.
BrahMos the world's best supersonic cruise missile has evolved
out of the joint efforts of Indian and Russian scientists, under the joint venture
company BrahMos Aerospace, DRDO
and NPO Mashinostroyenia of Russia along with a consortium of Indian and Russian
industries. The company came into existence consequent to an Inter-Governmental
agreement signed between the two countries in Feb. 1998. The acronym BrahMos
is perceived as the confluence of two great nations represented by two great rivers,
the fury of River Brahmaputra of India and the grace of River Moscowa of Russia.
The aim is to design, develop, produce and market the Supersonic Cruise Missile,
BrahMos
The missile can fly at 2.8 times the speed of sound.
It can carry warheads up to 200 kg in weight and has a maximum range of 290 km.
The missile is capable of being launched from multiple platforms based on land,
sea, sub-sea and air. The modular design of the missile and its capability of
being launched at different orientations enables it to be integrated with a wide
spectrum of platforms like warships, submarines, different types of aircraft,
Mobile Autonomous Launcher and silos.
SK/ SKS /HS
(Release ID :28756)