BrahMos missile is ‘Brahmastra’ for Indian defence forces, says military top brass

India needs to have strong deterrence tools and a powerful response force, such as the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles with long-range and precision strike capabilities as India shares two long unresolved border disputes with China and Pakistan, the country’s military top brass said.

At the silver jubilee celebrations of the India-Russia joint venture BrahMos Aerospace on Wednesday in New Delhi, Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said that the lethal combination of BrahMos missiles, whose range has been extended to 450 km from the original 290 km, fitted on the Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets has really given India a tremendous capability to enhance firepower.

Anil Chauhan, the Chief of Defence Staff, referred to the BrahMos missile as a “Brahmastra” on Wednesday and praised BrahMos Aerospace as a tremendous success. He added that Aatmanirbharta does not imply that everything will be produced in India. “Aatmanirbharta does not mean that we are going to produce everything in India. We are going to establish joint ventures and BrahMos Aerospace is one such venture. It has been a major success story, BrahMos is truly a ‘Brahmastra’ of its time”, according to CDS Chauha.

More than 200 BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles will be purchased, according to a statement made by the Indian Navy earlier in March. These missiles would be installed on all of the maritime force’s frontline warships. The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was tested-fired off the western coast earlier in February by the cruiser INS Visakhapatnam of the Indian Navy.

To strengthen the involvement of Indian industry and manufacturers, the indigenous content in the missile system has also been increased, and many of its systems have been improved and indigenised. Additionally, the Philippines is receiving the missile system. The members of the Philippine Marine Corps have also received training at the BrahMos facilities in India, and more of their batches will do so in the future.

The 5 billion USD export goal stated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also being pursued by Brahmos Aerospace, led by Atul Rane. The BrahMos Chairman had claimed that his team was aiming for USD 5 Billion by 2025 after signing the first export deal with the Philippines for $375 million.