Chief Of Defence Staff Anil Chauhan on Wednesday called BrahMos missile a 'Brahmastra' and said that BrahMos Aerospace is a major success story. He also said that Aatmanirbharta does not mean that we are going to produce everything 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,” CDS Chauhan said as quoted by the news agency ANI.
Speaking on the BrahMos missile, Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said that the missile has really galvanized the way we will equip ourselves with precision firepower in the coming years.
“As one of our most lethal air-combat assets, the BrahMos supersonic missile has really galvanized the way we will equip ourselves with precision firepower in the coming years. Seeing the conflicts that are happening across the globe the importance of precision, long range firepower can't be underscored,” Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said, as quoted by ANI.
Earlier in March, the Indian Navy said that it is going to place orders for acquiring more than 200 BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles which would be equipped on all the frontline warships of the maritime force. Earlier in February, Indian Navy's warship INS Visakhapatnam carried out the test-firing of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile off the western seaboard.
"The Indian Navy proposal to acquire more than 200 of these BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles is at an advanced stage and is expected to be cleared by the Defence Ministry soon," senior defence officials told ANI. The acquisition will also help the Indian Navy to stock the missiles in its arsenal which are deployed on warships as well as part of the mobile coastal missile batteries of the force.
The missile system has made significant advancements in the last few years after the Indo-Russian joint venture company increased its strike range from 290 km to more than 400 km.
The indigenous content in the missile system has also been increased and many of its systems have been upgraded and indigenised to increase the participation of Indian industry and manufacturers. The missile system is also being exported to the Philippines. The Philippines Marine Corps personnel have also undergone training at the BrahMos facilities in India and more of their batches are going to be trained here.
Brahmos Aerospace, headed by Atul Rane, is also working towards achieving USD 5 billion export target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BrahMos Chairman had stated that after the first export deal with the Philippines at $375 million, his team was targeting USD 5 Billion by 2025.