Representative image of BrahMos cruise missile.
Credit: PTI file photo
New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Security has cleared a Rs 19,000 crore deal for the Indian Navy to purchase over 200 Brahmos missiles including a few batches of the weapon with an extended strike range, sources said here on Thursday.
While the Defence Ministry remains tight-lipped, sources said the deal would involve procuring an upgraded version of the cruise missile with a range of 450 km. However, not all the missiles will be with extended range.
The new procurement plan was approved by the CCS chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.
The supersonic cruise missile jointly developed by Russia and India had a range of 290 km because of the restrictive Missile Technology Control Regime that prohibits export of missiles with a range of more than 300 km.
Once India became a part of the MTCR in 2016, defence scientists began trials of the extended range Brahmos that can hit a target at a distance of 450 km. The first successful test took place in 2017.
More than seven years later, a commercial agreement to manufacture the Brahmos with an extended range for the Indian Navy is on the cards, sources said.
BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd, an India-Russian joint venture, produces the supersonic cruise missiles that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land platforms.
The missile that flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound is also being tried by the Indian Army and Indian Air Force, which modified its Su-30MKI fighter jets to carry the missile.
The weapon is one of the military items that New Delhi promotes for export to friendly nations. The company is in talks with several south-east Asian nations for supplying the cruise missiles, which comes with a high success rate.
In January 2022, India sealed a $375 million deal with the Philippines for supplying three batteries of the missile. The supply is to start next month.
A few other countries including Argentina have also shown interest in procuring BrahMos missiles from India.
A year ago, the ministry signed a Rs 1,700 crore contract with Brahmos Aerospace to buy the missiles along with next generation maritime mobile coastal batteries.