Indo-Russian Inter-governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation has cleared the development of a hypersonic cruise missile.
NEW DELHI: The Indo-Russian Inter-governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation, chaired by the defence ministers of the two countries on Wednesday, cleared the development of a hypersonic cruise missile that can fly anywhere between five to seven times the speed of sound.
The two sides also signed a latter of intent on jointly developing a multi-role transport aircraft, and decided to further explore joint development of the fifth generation fighters based on a Sukhoi design.
The hypersonic missile would be the second stage of BrahMos, the joint venture supersonic cruise missile, that already is a huge success and is one of its kind in the world.
Russian defence minister Sergei Ivanov said the two sides have given clearance for the production of the “cruise missile of next generation” under the BrahMos joint venture. But what he didn’t say was that the next phase would be an ambitious project that would challenge the scientific abilities of the military scientists of the two countries.
With a speed between five and seven times sound, sources said the hypersonic cruise missile would be a “dream jump.” Already an imaginary drawing of such a missile exists with the BrahMos Aerospace. The proposed speed and precision of the next generation BrahMos would make it more difficult to develop an effective anti-missile system for adversaries.
Calling BrahMos a “successful chapter” in Indo-Russian defence relations, AK Antony said he “would like to see more such ventures in future.” The two sides signed a letter of intent on the development of a multi-role transport aircraft and for the licensed production of RD-33 engines for the MIG-29 fighters, which would be manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
Russia made a strong pitch for the 126 Multi Role Combat Aircraft deal of the IAF offering its MiG-35 fighters. On India participating in the fifth generation fighter project of Russia, Ivanov said, “We can now open up contractual work for Indian accession to the project.”
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