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BrahMos, the world's only supersonic cruise missile and a symbol of the India's military prowess has been billed to be "uninterceptable" for the "next 20 years", by none other than the "father of BrahMos" himself.
"The equivalent of BrahMos is yet to built. And, in the next 20 years, it cannot be intercepted by an enemy," says A Sivathanu Pillai, scientist, and CEO and MD of BrahMos Aerospace sharing the vision for the future trajectory of growth for the iconic missile technology developed jointly by India and Russia.
Pillai, also Chief Controller (R and D), DRDO and hailed largely as the "father of BrahMos" mentions "missile technology" as one of the 10 key and "unique leap-frog technologies" for building a securer and greater future of India, "driven by youth power" in a new book which he has co-authored with the former President A P J Kalam.
Titled Thoughts for Change: We can Do It, by two renowned scientific minds aims to be a clarion call to the youth of India to "reclaim its ancient scientific wisdom" even as it exhorts them to embrace and work towards building a future where "multiple technologies will intersect and interoperate".
"We take pride in the fact that BrahMos, world's only supersonic cruise missile, a symbol of Indo-Russian co-operation, where India provided the guidance, avionics, software and airframe components, etc, has been successfully delivered to both the Indian Navy and the Indian Army and the aerial version for the Indian Air Force too shall be ready in few years time," Pillai told PTI in an interview.
BrahMos, developed jointly in a strategic partnership between Indian DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) and Russian NPO Mashinostroyeniya, is a stealth cruise missile with a range of 290 km and travels at a speed of Mach 2.8 to 3.
The name BrahMos is a portmanteau formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.