BrahMos may undergo year-end underwater test firing

Chennai: The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile will likely be tested in its underwater and air launched versions in end-2008 and end-2009, according to Dr A Sivathanu Pillai, BrahMos Aerospace CEO and managing director.

Talking to news persons on the sidelines of the third Nanotechnology Conclave 2008 here on Wednesday, Dr Pillai said that the missile had already been tested in its ship to ship, ship to land, land to ship and land to land versions. Talks with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Russia and the Indian Navy were currently underway to identify a platform that would enable an underwater test firing of the missile.

''The missile is fully ready. What we need is a platform... Once the missile is fitted into a submarine, we need it for a longer duration and hence we can't take it from others. The underwater test firing is not in the programme, but we are gearing up for 2008-end,'' Dr. Pillai said.

The air -launched version was also ready for testing and BrahMos Aerospace was currently looking for an appropriate launcher. Dr Pillai said that they had already brought down the weight of the missile to 2.5 tonnes, from 3 tonnes, by making structural changes. The hunt was on for a universal launcher that would fit onto any type of aircraft,'' he added.