‘We created the world's largest launcher in-house in DRDO’: Scientist Sudhir Kumar Mishra on BrahMos

DRDO scientist Sudhir Kumar Mishra on Friday said that all the technologies for the long-range supersonic cruise missile, BrahMos, were developed by the defence research organisation.

Mishra is a former DRDO DG and former CEO & MD of BrahMos Aerospace. The veteran scientist currently holds the DRDO chair (Prof. S Bhagavantham).

Details about Brahmos

"We started by 250 million dollars. The company was registered in Delhi. We did the first flight test of Brahmos in 2001. When I joined in 2013, I developed various version -- ship to ship, land-based, air-based. The main thing was to integrate with the Sukhoi aircraft. 

That took a couple of years and it was critical. We created the world's largest launcher in-house in DRDO," said Mishra in an interaction with Moneycontrol's Managing Editor Dr Nalin Mehta during Network 18's Powering Bharat Summit.

Mishra said that BrahMos is an impactful universal weapon, impossible for anyone to stop.

"We conducted more than 130 tests, in every test parameters were improved. We always believed that we should not always go to L1 (if you are going for the lowest, quality can be compromised), we go for the T1," said Mishra.

He added that India is on the brink of a major defence milestone with the upcoming debut of an indigenous hypersonic missile capable of flying at Mach 5.

"Two-three weeks back, we tested a hypersonic engine. Soon, we will come out with a hypersonic missile that will reach Mach 5 speed. All the technologies for BrahMos were developed in-house by DRDO — we even built the world’s largest launcher ourselves," Mishra said, mentioning that when other nations compare missile systems and choose to induct India’s, “it means ours is the best.”

Mishra spoke on a panel titled Defending Bharat: Indian Drones, Missiles, Defence Tech, alongside leading voices in the drone and defence tech ecosystem.

In a recent interview with the Times of India, he said: “Initially, the Lucknow facility will roll out existing BrahMos missile to meet increased demand, but its specific purpose is to manufacture BrahMos NG (next generation) missile. The BrahMos NG will have a range of 300km, equal to the current missile, but will be significantly lighter, at 1.2 tonnes (1,200 kg) compared to the existing model’s 2,900kg.”

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