Article Posted on : - Jan 30, 2012

BRAHMOS Supersonic Cruise Missile. A file photo.

BANGALORE (BNS): BrahMos Aerospace subsidiary BATL has been awarded a contract worth Rs 120 crore to manufacture critical components of the BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile.

"The fresh orders are for F-3 section, metallic airframe components and CPHS (Combined Pneumo Hydraulic System), an Express report quoting sources said.

BATL will work on the new BRAHMOS project at its recently acquired Chakkai facility in Thiruvananthapuram.

According to the report, the airborne launcher which BATL is developing for the BRAHMOS missile on Sukhoi-30MKI prototype has been cleared and the company has started work on the actual airborne launcher for Sukhoi.

A limited series production order of five sets is in place and mass production of the launchers is now in the pipeline, it said.

The 6-metre-long airborne launcher fabricated using high strength aluminium weighs 350 kg and is the largest in the world.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has begun to make necessary modifications to the Sukhoi undercarriage to take on the launcher from which the missile, with a take-off mass of 2,500 kg, would be gravity-dropped.

Once the structural tests of the launcher are over, its mechanism of release would be tested from a static platform using a dummy missile. The launcher would then be integrated onto the reinforced Sukhoi airframe to repeat the test, according to earlier reports.

The air version of BRAHMOS missile is expected to be flight tested on a Su-30 MKI aircraft by the end of 2012. Jointly developed by India and Russia, BRAHMOS has a range of 290 km and is already in service with the Indian Army and Navy.