Friday, March 11 2005 20:21 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Sriharikota: Production of the Naval version of the advanced cruise missile BrahMos, that far exceeds the speed of audio waves is currently on, Dr A Sivathanu Pillai, CEO and MD of BrahMos Aerospace, an Indo-Russian venture, which is developing and manufacturing the missile, said today (March 11, 2005).

Indian Navy would be the first customer for the BrahMos missile, and Naval officers were closely involved in the test firing of the missile, he told reporters, on the sidelines of a seminar in Sriharikota.

The Indian Navy has also identified the warships that are suitable for mounting the State-of-the-art cruise missile.

Pillai said the missile has undergone nine test flights with cent per cent accuracy of hitting the aimed targets. The successful test-flights have indicated that they are ready for induction into the Navy and the Army, he said.

The works have also picked up momentum in developing the Air Force variant of the missile. The designing of the Air Force variant would become ready for test firing in two years.

The Army-variant of the BrahMos missile has been tested during the ninth trial and it effectively hit the aimed target among a group of relatively closely held targets, proving its mettle as one of the most reliable missiles in the world, Pillai said.

A consortium of 20 Indian and 10 Russian enterprises are involved in the mass production of BrahMos. They are engaged in the production of sub-systems like guidance units, missile launchers, fire control systems and a series of vehicles.