BrahMos missile: Efforts on to develop technology for hypersonic version

BrahMos Aerospace, an Indo-Russian joint venture, has initiated efforts to develop technology for hypersonic version of the BrahMos missile which can travel at five to seven times the speed of sound, a top company official has said.

"The company is roping in academics to develop there quisite technology before going in for designing and developing missiles which can travel at Mach 5 to 7 (five to seven times the speed of sound). It will be BrahMos II version next to the present variants of Mach 2.8 to 3.5," A Sivathanu Pillai MD & CEO of the company told PTI.

He said the IISc, Bangalore, would collaborate with the company with a 20 member scientists' team developing technologies for high temperature material required to build the missile, cram-jet propulsions and energy modules and the requisite algorithms.

A separate centre has been created for this purpose inIndian Institute of Science while its Russian counterpart, the Moscow Institute of Aviation, would produce technologies for propulsion, kinetic energy modules for the hypersonic version. In allprobability, it would take a minimum of five years for these initiatives to crystallise. In the meantime, BrahMos would work out blueprints for setting up a productioncentre, choice of vendors for supply of necessary components and investment structure, he said.

After these operations, BrahMos Aerospace would take up development of missiles that can come back to the originating mode after destroying the designated target, he saidPillai said modernisation and expansion of manufacturing facilities at Hyderabad and Thriuvananthapuram are also on the cards since the domestic market demand is onthe increase.

He said the Indian Air Force had also started placing orders for BrahMos and addedthat the Army and the Navy are regular customers. Pillai was here to participate in a felicitationfunction held in his honour on being conferred the PadmaBhushan Award.

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