INDIA. Mumbai: Providing further impetus to Aatmanirbharta (self-reliance) in defence production, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) signed a contract with M/s BrahMos Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. (BAPL) for the acquisition of additional dual-role capable Surface to Surface BrahMos missiles on Thursday.
Brahmos missile
The missiles will be procured at an overall approximate cost of Rs. 1700 Crore under the “Buy-Indian” Category. This takes the worth of total contracts signed so far for these missiles to over Rs 38,000 crore.
Induction of these dual-role capable Missiles is going to significantly enhance the operational capability of Indian Navy (IN) fleet assets, an official statement said.
The “dual role” surface-to-surface missiles (capable of both land attacks and anti-ship attacks) have a strike range of 290 km. They are meant for use by the Indian Navy’s main warships.
The Indian Navy has deployed BrahMos since 2005. The missile has been deployed on the Indian Navy’s frontline surface combat platforms, including destroyers and frigates, as the prime strike weapon.
They include ten frontline warships and another five warships. INS Visakhapatnam, the Navy’s latest guided-missile destroyer, had successfully tested BrahMos’ extended range version in January.
BrahMos has also been tested in vertical configuration from a moving warship. This has proved the missile’s vertical launch capabilities from a moving platform and also that of the Universal Vertical Launcher Module(UVLM), designed and developed by BrahMos.
UVLM, a next-generation system far superior to the designed worldwide concept, will be used for future ship installation in a vertical configuration for BrahMos.
The missile can be launched in single or in a salvo from a ship towards single or different types of targets within 2-2.5 seconds in various trajectories.
The Army has deployed the BrahMos batteries in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, given the border dispute with China. The Air Force has inducted two land-based BrahMos squadrons. The air-launched version is being progressively fitted on Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets.
BrahMos missiles are of the “air-breathing” type. They fly at Mach 2.8, which is almost three times the speed of sound. They are now the precision-strike conventional (non-nuclear) weapon.
The BAPL is a Joint Venture (JV) between India and Russia, making a crucial contribution to augmenting the new generation of Surface-to-Surface Missiles (SSMs) with enhanced range and dual role capability for land as well as anti-ship attacks.
This contract will further boost indigenous production of the critical weapon system and ammunition with the active participation of indigenous industry.
Also Read: Three Officers Suspended for Accidental Firing of BrahMos Missile
