Mighty India Power

Hypersonic BrahMos Version-2 Cruise Missile, an improved version of Indo-Russian joint venture will be inducted in the Indian army during the next fives years. Media reports quoting a top defence official in Thiruvananthapuram, state capital of Kerala said the Hypersonic BrahMos Version-2 Cruise Missile is in the process of development at present. Chief Controller of Defence Research organization (DRDO) and Brahmos Aerospace Corporation CEO A Sivathanu Pillai was talking to mediapersons on the eve of the BrahMos Aerospace Corporation, an Indo-Russia joint venture, taking over the state run-Kerala Hightech Industries Ltd. in Kerala. This first defence production unit in the state would be a major centre for production of components and integration of the supersonic missile system, he said. “The full-fledged BrahMos complex will be ready for production and assembling in two to three years time,” he said and added “a lot of orders have come for the missile both from Army and Navy, and...

Brahmos, the world's fastest cruise missile jointly developed by India and Russia, would be assembled in Kerala, an official said here Sunday. Keltec, a state public sector unit here, would start assembling Brahmos supersonic missile in three years, said A. Sivathanu Pillai, MD and CEO of Brahmos Aerospace, here Sunday. The unit would be renamed as Brahmos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Ltd. "We are taking over Keltec and tomorrow (Monday) Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan would hand over the unit to the Defence Minister A.K. Antony," Pillai told reporters at the campus of the unit. "Considering the engineering capability, quality of the workforce at Keltec and the contribution of the staff to the country's space programme, the taking over became smoother," said Pillai, who till 1982 worked as a scientist at the ISRO space centre. In the first phase, Rs.1.25 billion would be invested at the existing campus. Of this Rs.750 million would be invested b...

The successful launch of Interceptor Missile (AAD) towards developing a ballistic missile defence system, test flight of Agni-III (A3-02), user trial of Akash Missile by Army and Air Force, Handing over of first batch of land version of BrahMos missile systems to Army and successful conduct of 4 th Military World Games were some of the significant events in the Ministry of Defence during the current year. The issue of Request for Proposal (RFP) for the purchase of 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft for Indian Air Force, the arrival of first batch of two Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers from UK, Signing of the Agreement with Russia on the Joint Development of 5 th Generation Fighter Aircraft, First meeting of Indo-German High Defence Committee, Meeting of the Indo-French High Committee Meeting and approval of Parliament to the Armed Forces Tribunal Bill were some other major events during the year. INTERCEPTOR MISSILE The country took a significant step towards Ballistic Missile Defence...

India scaled new heights in missile capability by cranking up production lines in 2007 to almost the pace of China but was bogged down by the slow pace of acquisition of conventional weaponry. Long-range ballistic missile Agni III and interceptor missiles were successfully test fired and DRDO scientists were upbeat about developing a 6,000-km range Agni IV, marking a watershed in revival and revitalisation of the Integrated Guided Missile Programme which faced hiccups in recent years. There were five successful trial rounds of surface-to-air Akash missile, which earlier failed to meet parameters, and the Defence Ministry's nod for its induction in the IAF. The country has begun commercial production of Agni-I and II and 150-350 km Prithvi missiles while Agni IV is expected on the anvil in 2008 but scientists are mum about the talk of a 8,000-9,000 km intercontinental range missile 'Surya'. A new variety of missiles was tested in exosphere (about 40 km) and endosphere (b...

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is to induct a squadron-strength of the Akash surface-to-air missile but is unclear about the eventual numbers of the indigenously developed system it will operate. "We will soon begin the process of inducting the Akash," IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major told reporters on the sidelines of a function here where he installed a time capsule relating to the just concluded platinum jubilee celebrations of the force. "The user trials have just concluded. We are awaiting the report on this, after which we shall initiate the process of inducting a squadron-strength of the missile," Major said. Squadron strength means the IAF would initially deploy 16 to 18 batteries of the missile that can engage targets at a height of 25 km. At the same time, Major refused to commit himself to the eventual numbers of the missile the IAF would deploy, indicating he was not too happy with the system that has been in development for almost two decades...

'Janes Defense Weekly' reports that India is likely to join in the air-to-air missile (AAM) development agreement between Brazil and South Africa. The issue of co-operation in research-and-development (R&D) had been discussed during recent high-level Brazilian military delegation visits to India. Brazil and South Africa had announced their AAM co-operation efforts in 2005. India also has an indegineous AAM programme - Astra - which is being developed by DRDO and is said to have looked promising in the trials conducted thus far. Keeping in light of the Indian defence establishments recent "foreign collaboration" mantra, it could be possible that DRDO might jointly develop AAMs with Brazil & South Africa. The new tri-national agreement is reported to involve India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) working in a risk-sharing R&D programme dealing with two projects: a short-range imaging infrared (IIR) mis...

India announced a final successful test of the surface-to-air Akash missile before starting mass production under an ambitious plan to build a national missile defence shield. The missile blasted off from the Chandipur-on-Sea testing site, 200 kilometres (125 miles) northeast of Orissa state capital Bhubaneswar and hit an unmanned flying target, defence ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar told AFP. "The Akash missile has successfully hit the bull's eye for the fifth time in a row in the past 10 days and the last trial successfully took place today," he said. The 700-kilogram (1,540-pound) Akash, meaning "sky" in Hindi, can track 100 targets simultaneously with onboard radar, move at 600 metres (yards) a second and deliver a 55-kilogram warhead across 27 kilometres (17 miles) in 50 seconds. "The missile system has been configured to be part of a futuristic network centric operation," the defence ministry said in a separate statement. Akash will join fo...