Article Posted on : - Oct 24, 2010

COIMBATORE (PTI): India and Russia are working out modalities for increasing speed of the BRAHMOS missile from supersonic to hypersonic, a top BrahMos Aerospace executive said here Saturday.

This upgrade will take at least five years since it requires modification of scramjet engine, technology, reduction in size and weight, Dr A Sivathanu Pillai, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Indo-Russian joint venture company said.

The budget for the project is yet to be estimated, Pillai said adding it was too early to go into details.

On the air version of BRAHMOS for Indian Air Force, he said it will be ready by 2012 and tested at SAR platform of Sukhoi 30 fighter.

After the induction of this version, India will be the only country which will have supersonic missiles in all the defence forces, Pillai said. BRAHMOS missiles have already been inducted in the Army and Navy.

He said scientists have successfully conducted the steep dive test of BRAHMOS, making the missile a multi-faceted and multi-discipline, since it had all variants of land to land, sea to land, land to sea and sea to sea.

Pillai, here to release a book, also said the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a laser sensor, which is capable of testing blood sugar levels without touching a drop of blood.

The device, expected to be ready for production in six months, could be placed even on the wrist watch worn by a person, Pillai said.