Defense Update

ZHUKOVSKY /Moscow Region/, August 28. /TASS/. The next-generation BrahMos-NG cruise missile may enter trials in four to five years, Indian Co-Director of the Russia-India BrahMos Aerospace Joint Venture Sudhir Kumar Mishra told TASS at the MAKS-2019 international aerospace show on Wednesday.

"It will take us four-five years to start trials of this missile," Mishra said.

Now the missile is at the initial stage of its development, he noted. "We have already reached a good level for making the ramjet engine for it. We are conducting our work without any haste."

The Indian co-director of BrahMos Aerospace earlier told TASS that his company had plans to develop a hypersonic ramjet engine for the BrahMos missile. The use of new materials and other improvements will also help boost its speed to Mach 4.8, he specified.

The BrahMos supersonic missile with a flight range of 290 km is currently operational in the Indian Army and Navy. The missile’s air-launched modification has also been developed.

The development of the BrahMos hypersonic cruise missile will take at least seven-eight years, Mishra said.

"I believe the hypersonic BrahMos will appear no sooner than seven to eight years," he noted.

The work on the hypersonic technology is proceeding jointly with the Russian partners - the Research and Production association of Machine-Building and Moscow Aviation Institute, as well as with Indian research institutes, he said.

The basic research is related to the problem of protecting the missile’s internal compartments from high temperatures that some parts of the design get at a hypersonic speed, he explained.

"We hope that we will find solutions to these problems," he said.

The PJ-10 BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile developed jointly by the Reutov-based Research and Production Association of Machine-Building (the Moscow Region) and India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO).

The PJ-BrahMos is a modification of the Soviet anti-ship missile Oniks. The missile’s name comes from the names of two rivers: the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia. The missile’s first launch took place on June 12, 2001 from a coastal launcher. The missile’s production has been conducted in Russia and India.

The MAKS-2019 international aerospace show runs in the town of Zhukovsky outside Moscow on August 27 - September 1. The event’s organizers are Russia’s Industry and Trade Ministry and the state hi-tech corporation Rostec. A total of 827 companies from 33 countries are taking part in the aerospace show, including 184 foreign firms.