India, Russia contract to export BrahMos missiles

India, Russia contract to export BrahMos missiles

The first contract for the export of the Indo-Russian BrahMos cruise missiles to a "friendly" country is in the pipeline, and could be inked by the end of this year."The first contract for the delivery of BrahMos cruise missiles to a friendly country is expected to be signed by the end of the year," Sivathanu Pillai, CEO of New Delhi-based BrahMos Aerospace, said.BrahMos Aerospace - a joint venture between India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russian NPO Mashinostroyenia - has been authorised by their respective governments to export the deadly missiles to mutually agreed "friendly" countries, and the list of potential importers would be extended."There is a huge market for cruise missiles. BrahMos is unique among cruise missiles due to its 2.8 Mach supersonic speed (all other cruise missiles are sub-sonic at present) and a much longer strike range. It's the ultimate force-multiplier," Pillai said.The export version will basically be the anti-ship variant of the 290-km range BrahMos, which has already been inducted by the Indian Navy.