Although it's been only a few months that he has taken charge as the MD & CEO of BrahMos Aerospace, Sudhir Kumar Mishra is a seasoned campaigner in this field. He has already looked after all major missile programmes of India as the Director Missile Programme at the DRDO Headquarters.
Considered as the top missile scientist in India today, he has also coordinated international joint missiles development programmes with Russia, Israel and France. He has also worked closely with two stalwarts in this segment: the present DRDO chief and India's missile man Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. With this robust background, Mishra is now aiming to take missile manufacturing in India to the next level.
"Indigenisation of missile development in India, capacity building for larger production, meeting the production orders ahead of schedule to ensure delivery of missiles on time and to ensure different variants of BrahMos missiles to meet the aspirations and requirements of the defence force including Army, Navy and Air Force are my immediate priorities. In order to meet the above requirements, we now have to focus more on production of engine and seeker in India," he says.
In addition, BrahMos Aerospace is now gearing up for the testing of the air-launched version of the missile from the IAF's Su-30MKI fighter aircraft by this year-end or early next year. "Once the integration and ground tests are over, we will carry out the flight trials from the frontline fighter aircraft."
According to Mishra, BrahMos is a total solutions company which handles all the stages of the missile operation including design, development, serial production, marketing, delivery, after sales support & maintenance, upgrades and new products creation.
"We have formed a unique public-private consortium, to speed up production of the missile system. Industry partners are the strength and backbone of BrahMos. More than 200 industry partners from India are committed to the BrahMos programme. They are continuously producing and delivering various systems and sub systems ranging from small rubber components to technologically advanced airframes and navigation systems. Together, we are also focussing on enhancing the indigenous contents of the BrahMos missile system."
(Continued on the next page)
