India to deploy BrahMos cruise missile in(other) fighter planes

[LETHALFORCE]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...ile-in-fighter-planes/articleshow/7687368.cms

NEW DELHI: India is planning to deploy its 290km range supersonic BrahMos cruise missile on the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) being developed with Russia.

"If we are able to reduce the weight of the missile below two tonnes, we can deploy it on the FGFA and we are looking to do that in future," BrahMos Aerospace chief A Sivathanu Pillai said here.

FGFA is joint venture aircraft development programme between India and Russia under which India will induct 250-300 of these advanced planes.

The missile is already being developed for deployment on Su-30MKIs of the Indian Air Force.

Asked if the missile could be put on other aircraft such as the LCA or the proposed Medium-Multirole Combat Aircraft (M-MRCA), Pillai said it would not be possible for the LCA as it was a small aircraft.

Asked if there was any plan to export the missile, the BrahMos chief said "many countries in the world have shown interest in the missile and a Supervisory Council comprising Indian and Russian officials has given clearance for exporting it to friendly countries."

He said the three Services have extended their support for the missile export but only after fulfilling their requirements.

Pillai said the three Services have placed orders worth USD four billion with BrahMos including the orders for the land version of cruise missile by the Indian Air Force.

The BrahMos chief denied there were disputes between India and Russia over the modifications being carried out in the Su-30MKIs being upgraded to fire-from-the-air version of the missile.

"The trials of launching BrahMos cruise missile from air will begin in 2012 and there will be no delay in the programme due to this," he added.

 

[sesha_maruthi27]

GOOD step taken by the authorities. We need to wait and see. Any news about theabout the prototype of the FGFA (The INDIAN DESIGN).

 

[Tshering22]

Its a stupid move IMO. The whole point of FGFA is to be able to avoid detection and arming BraMos on them would simply undo the whole point of making these jets. The Indian defense establishment still hasn't matured from the being all dazzled-by-one-single-weapon-system mentality to a more mature capable-of-making-more-super-weapons one. This is where and how China is ahead of us; they continue to expand their spectrum of technical research through any means rather than just remain dazzled by a single weapons system.

This modification of an FGFA is simply a stupid move that is a waste of taxpayer's money and the precious time of our already-abysmally slow and lethargic defense establishment.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Its a stupid move IMO. The whole point of FGFA is to be able to avoid detection and arming BraMos on them would simply undo the whole point of making these jets. The Indian defense establishment still hasn't matured from the being all dazzled-by-one-single-weapon-system mentality to a more mature capable-of-making-more-super-weapons one. This is where and how China is ahead of us; they continue to expand their spectrum of technical research through any means rather than just remain dazzled by a single weapons system.

This modification of an FGFA is simply a stupid move that is a waste of taxpayer's money and the precious time of our already-abysmally slow and lethargic defense establishment.

This maybe carrot for the Russians?? They also discussed placing it on the MRCA winner??

 

[Tshering22]

This maybe carrot for the Russians?? They also discussed placing it on the MRCA winner??

It is not always about carrot for someone or the other. We are not a client state and if we have to increase our influence and spectrum of power, we need to start standing our own feet for once. This means that there will be times where we don't have to necessarily continue to be the cow that needs to be milked by everyone.

MRCA is an asset that we are trying to acquire purely for the money that we are paying for. Technically, we shouldn't even be asking for any sort of leverages or even expecting them beyond the general perks that are supposed to come with that kind of $$$ we are offering as price for the necessary jets.

If our f****ng babus had a spark of something called common sense and a bit of sincerity, you would expect nations like France, UK/Italy/Germany/Spain, Sweden etc go down to their knees to get this contract rather than all this delay and the hulabaloo.

But as we all know about the chai-pakora babus that run our ministries and their corrupt officers and MLAs, there is little we can do until people start taking national defense and strategy seriously and start understanding that each and every aspect discussed and existent in the top-most echelons in this country is somewhere and somehow connected to every INDIAN and affects every Indian's life.

ON TOPIC, We have provided A LOT OF carrots to a lot of countries and technically should start being serious about self reliance. Not at the snail pace of DRDO but at a new pace that restores a sense of trust and confidence of people in the national defense establishment. I don't know the current production capabilities of BrahMos because from every article I have read on the missile, it seems like dozens of countries are interested in buying it, but for some reason the reports make Indian MILITARY's requirements so bloated that it feels as if we are acquiring more than a Million missiles of the type daily. And all this to over up the pathetic rate of production that our general manufacturing and assembly lines generate in almost all defense related products.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

I agree if FGFA is already more than capable of deep strike missions and Novator designing long range AWAC killer missiles what role will air launched Brahmos play??? The first issue would be the extra weight it adds to the plane and the increased fuel requirements from that and secondly the redesigns and delays adding to the cost. Our govt has placed us in a position of remaining a buyer rather than becoming a producer and an innovator ;by not focusing on a military infrastructure, but atleast we are not a pure buyer anymore, we are partners in many cutting edge projects with the Russians now.

 

[nrj]

Even if some of the FGFAs are going to carry Brahmos, it will be external payload.

Pillai is trying to market Brahmos all over he gets chance but, its appearing bit ostentatious now & may be they should talk less.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/India_to_deploy_BrahMos_in_jet_planes_999.html


India to deploy BrahMos in jet planes

India is planning to deploy its supersonic BrahMos cruise missile on next-generation aircraft being co-developed with Russia.

"If we are able to reduce the weight of the missile below the 2 tons we will deploy it on the fifth-generation aircraft and we are looking to do that in the futures," said Sivanthanu Pillai, BrahMos Aerospace chief executive officer.

The fifth-generation plane is a joint venture program that will lead to the development of 250 to 300 such aircraft.

"The trials of launching BrahMos cruise missile from air will begin in 2012 and there will be no delay in the program due to this," Pillai was quoted saying in a report of The Hindu newspaper.

On the submarine version, Pillai said there would be an underwater test of the missile by the end of this year "after we get the pontoon."

Experts say the underwater missile will have the same capability as earlier variants. It has the capability to strike at both land and maritime targets.

The Hindustan Times, however, reported that Russia and India were sparring over who would foot the bill to alter aircraft designs to fit the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile.

Speaking to reporters Pillai denied the spat. Still he did concede that both sides were stuck in talks over the final cost.

"This is under discussion. That is not finalized," he said at a media event organized by the Press Club of India over the weekend. "There is no dispute with them. Any discussion takes time. We are also looking at our own design. We will not delay the project."

Determined to increase its defenses and become a regional superpower, India plans to spend up to $30 billion on its military by 2012. In recent months, it inducted a long-range, nuclear-tipped missile into its armed forces, unveiling a defense spending budget spiked by 24 percent since last year.

The moves have Pakistan fretting, with leading officials billing India's drive a "massive militarization."

Russia has been the biggest military supplier to India since the Cold War. While India's armed forces rely heavily on Russian supplies, New Delhi has been trying to diversify its military imports in recent years.

India boosted its defense ties with Russia this year. It is expected that the military industry in Moscow will also supply New Delhi with 22 attack helicopters and 15 heavy-lift helicopters.

 

[shuvo@y2k10]

i think this is a good decision because since india does not have a dedicated bomber fleet so it makes sense to turn our heavy fighters into fighter-bombers.also i don't think this will add to weight of the fgfa because since the fgfa is alreadyin the class of su-30mki so it's weapon's payload is equal to about 8 tons.as long as bhramos can be made less than 2 tons from the current 2.5 tons(alcm version) and require zero or minor design changes in the air-frame i think it is a good decision.also i hope air-launched versions of nirbhoy,lrcm be launched from fgfa as it will give us real operational flexibility.