By Kamal Shah
India’s BrahMos missile deal with the Philippines signifies a significant milestone in establishing its global military hardware market credentials.
The deal was ratified in New Delhi between Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Atul Dinkar Rane and Philippines Secretary of Defence Delfin Lorenzana on 28 January 2022; the deal gives India’s indigenous production blueprint a major boost.
Atul Dinkar Rane, the newly appointed CEO and MD of BrahMos Aerospace shares his vision for the future and India’s increasing influence in the sphere of missile technology in this exclusive interview with Indian Aerospace & Defence.
Q) As the recently appointed CEO and MD BrahMos Aerospace, what is your vision for BrahMos?
Ans: Being appointed to this very prestigious position in one of India’s most successful modern military-technology programmes is a matter of immense pride for me.
BrahMos has been reckoned as a world-class weapon. My vision is to carry forward the excellent lineage of this legacy weapon system to its next phase of development.
With requisite support from the Indian and Russian governments, BrahMos Aerospace, in close cooperation with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), NPO Mashinostroyeniya (NPOM) and all other industry partners and stakeholders, will focus on designing and developing the BrahMos next-generation (NG) missile system with utmost dedication.
In over the two decades of its incredible journey, BrahMos has continued to evolve, and it will continue its evolution in terms of new technological advancements and indigenisation. We will also expedite the serial production and delivery of air-launched missile variants to the Indian Air Force.
At the same time, we are immensely hopeful to start exporting BrahMos to third party-friendly, responsible nations after getting all necessary approval from our government. We expect it to happen as early as this year.
Q) Now that BrahMos has been sold to the Philippines, how do you perceive the first significant export order?
Ans: The ‘Implementing Agreement’ signed between India and the Philippines for ‘procurement of defence material and equipment’ has paved the way for exporting BrahMos to the Southeast Asian nation through the Government-to-Government (G2G) route. Export of defence products is often a strategic decision involving governments.
Q) Now that BrahMos Aerospace has acquired land to manufacture the lighter BrahMos NG variant in Lucknow, can you highlight some of the challenges involved?
Ans: At present, we are at the concept design phase of the new BrahMos Next Generation (NG) programme, which would be a highly advanced weapon in the future. This new smaller, lighter and smarter supersonic cruise missile with more versatility, lethality and flexibility will cruise at a higher speed than the current BrahMos variant. The BrahMos NG would be designed and developed to fit a wide range of modern military platforms; we are planning a design to be mounted on the Sukhoi, MiG, the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), along with some naval platforms.
Some of the missile’s key features would be its reduced dimension and weight, enhanced engine performance, advanced next-generation stealth, greater effectiveness against electronic countermeasures, among other technological advancements. The weapon would involve developing and validating specific new systems and features, which would be the main challenges in the programme. The BrahMos NG is being designed by keeping local indigenised sub-systems from the beginning itself to give a fillip to our government’s ‘Make-in-India’ program.
Q) Are there more countries and militaries interested in and engaged in talks to procure the BrahMos?
Ans: There are many countries across continents, including in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, which have expressed keen interest and are looking forward to acquiring BrahMos for their military. Yes, we are engaged in discussions with many friendly nations as per our government’s mandate.
Q) How important is this from the perspective of India’s defence exports, what impact would it have on India’s defence policies. How does this order project India’s position as an exporter in the defence domain?
Ans: The BrahMos export deal will be a historic one for India. It will not only propel forward India’s defence export ambitions at the global stage but would also immensely elevate the country’s strategic posture. For, this will be the first time in the history of independent India when a full-fledged, high-end weapon system would be supplied to a foreign country. India will thus firmly position itself among the exclusive club of weapon-exporting nations in the world.
Q) What does the next version of BrahMos aim for?
Ans: BrahMos has continued to evolve in many technological advancements, be it precision, manoeuvrability, ‘kill capability’ or any other feature. We have conducted successful test firings of advanced variants, thereby validating all the new improvements in the weapon system.
Q) BrahMos is an Indo-Russian JV product but which sub-systems components drive more towards indigenisation?
Ans: Over the years, we have successfully indigenised numerous systems, sub-systems and components in the missile. Be it the metallic and non-metallic airframe, the canister, nose cap, all ground-based launchers and support systems, the fire control system, propulsion and fuel management system, we have achieved significant milestones in our indigenisation efforts with solid backing from DRDO laboratories and all our industrial partners.
Q) What is the scope for the Indian private defence companies in developing and manufacturing BrahMos sub-systems and components?
Ans: BrahMos JV has already involved a large number of both public and private sector defence entities in the BrahMos development and productionisation programme. The robust Missile Industrial Consortium (MIC) involving over 200 Indian defence sector enterprises is the direct result of this unique JV project. With new, futuristic BrahMos variants in our pipeline, we aim to further expand this robust defence ecosystem in India.
Q) What are your expectations for enhancing the BrahMos? What is your message to the Indian companies involved in these enhancements?
Ans: The Indian defence industry has come a long way and is in a much stronger position today to fulfil the dream of building an ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ in the modern military technology domain. Despite the years of technology denial regimes imposed on us, we have attained self-sufficiency in several critical defence technology areas. With close collaboration and cooperation between public and private sector defence enterprises and academia, India can firmly position itself as a world-class defence manufacturer and exporter in the near future. The BrahMos programme too will immensely benefit from such collaboration and cooperation.
Q) The production capacity of BrahMos is being enhanced; what is the target in terms of numbers and timelines?
Ans: Capacity enhancement and expeditious production have always been our priority areas to meet the increasing demand of our Armed Forces. We are committed to meeting the delivery timelines. Consequently, BrahMos Aerospace has set up new work centres across various parts of the country to bolster production capacity and roll out the weapon in higher numbers and on time.
Q) BrahMos has set a critical Indo-Russian time-tested example of how JVs can work to create a best in class defence product. Do you see the BrahMos JV model being followed in co-developing other state of the art defence products in India?
Ans: BrahMos JV remains the flagbearer of India-Russia military-technical cooperation. It bears the most exemplary testimony of a successful strategic partnership between two powerful, friendly nations. The BrahMos JV model can be emulated in developing more such world-class high-end military products in India.
Q) Could the learnings from BrahMos be applied in other Indian missile systems?
Ans: With the BrahMos programme, we have gained expertise in several core technology areas involving a modern precision strike weapon. So, such experience and knowledge can be leveraged to develop other missile systems in the country.
Q) Is BrahMos Aerospace designing hypersonic gliders for its missiles?
Ans: No, there are no such plans to design hypersonic gliders.
Q) Is there a clear division of responsibility between the types of missiles and components BrahMos can develop and what DRDO does?
Ans: The BrahMos missile is a unique, universally designed weapon system. BrahMos Aerospace works only on the weapon system and its improvements. BrahMos Aerospace, in close cooperation with DRDO and many of its laboratories and other industry partners, is developing and producing the BrahMos weapon system. We do the necessary work-share to develop the missile and its various components etc.
Q) BrahMos is an exceptionally unique JV between Indian and Russian verticals. What are the key features that lead to the success of this programme?
Ans: The first and foremost is that it is a unique military partnership programme wherein both India and Russia have combined their scientific-technical expertise and excellence in designing and developing the world’s best tactical weapon. Both countries have worked hand-in-hand on the project.
Secondly, BrahMos is an unparalleled system having high versatility, lethality and multi-mission capability. It is the world’s only operational supersonic cruise missile deployed by all three Services of the Indian Armed Forces. Based on the unique concept of the ‘Missile Industrial Consortium’, the JV has strengthened India’s defence ecosystem.
