Vietnam set to seal BrahMos missile deal as export talks enter final stage: BrahMos Aerospace Chief Jaiteerth Joshi

"BrahMos has evolved into one of its kind, a supersonic system that has been manufactured and tested successfully with the support of DRDO. A live test was conducted during Operation Sindoor. This is the first of its kind, where we could test the missile on our adversary," he said.

Export negotiations for the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with Vietnam are in the final stages, with only a few clearances remaining before the deal is concluded, BrahMos Aerospace Chief Jaiteerth Joshi said on Thursday. Speaking in Nagpur after flagging off the 100th indigenous booster manufactured by Solar Industries India Ltd for the BrahMos missile programme, Joshi said discussions were also under way with several other countries for potential exports.

"Export negotiations are in almost final stages with Vietnam, with only minor clearances remaining before finalisation. We are in talks with several other countries in both eastern and western regions. Once the government approval comes, we will come out on the open forum," he told ANI. His remarks come a month after former Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, P Kumaran, said on May 6 that Vietnam remains an important strategic partner for India in the Indo-Pacific region and that discussions on multiple defence platforms, including BrahMos, are continuing under the India-Vietnam Joint Vision Statement for Defence Partnership 2030.

Speaking about efforts to reduce costs and increase indigenous content in the missile system, Joshi said significant savings had been achieved through value engineering initiatives over the past 18 months. "Significant reductions have been achieved through value engineering over the past one and a half years. Raw material costs have been reduced by approximately 24 per cent, while manufacturing and component costs have been reduced by around 10 per cent. Overall, the Indian component cost is expected to decline by nearly 20 per cent over the next one to two years," he said.

Joshi also outlined future development plans for the missile programme, including the BrahMos-NG and extended-range variants. He said research is under way to develop lighter missile designs using advanced composite materials. "Future developments include work on BrahMos-NG and extended-range variants, with research also focused on lighter designs using composite materials. Final specifications will be determined after design validation and simulation studies are completed," the BrahMos Aerospace Chief told ANI.

Referring to the missile's operational performance, Joshi said BrahMos had recently undergone what he described as a "live" combat test during Operation Sindoor. "BrahMos has evolved into one of its kind, a supersonic system that has been manufactured and tested successfully with the support of DRDO. A live test was conducted during Operation Sindoor. This is the first of its kind, where we could test the missile on our adversary," he said.

Joshi also revealed that discussions were taking place with Russia regarding increased production requirements for the missile programme. "Russia has its own established industry partners. However, they want to increase the requirement as per the present scenario. We are in talks with them," he said.

The event in Nagpur marked a major milestone in the indigenisation of the BrahMos programme with the flagging off of the 100th indigenous booster. Joshi noted that a component once imported from Russia is now being manufactured in India.

"Earlier we were importing boosters from Russia, and now it is indigenous. This is the 100th booster that has been delivered. Solar Industries India Ltd is playing a pivotal role in this. They have also completed warhead trials and once the process is successfully completed, imported warheads will be replaced with indigenous ones," he said. BrahMos is a joint venture between India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM).

The missile derives its name from the Brahmaputra River in India and the Moskva River in Russia. The two-stage supersonic cruise missile can be launched from land, sea, sub-sea and air platforms. It uses a solid-fuel booster in the first stage to achieve supersonic speed, followed by a liquid-fuel ramjet engine that powers it to speeds of up to Mach 2.8 during the cruise phase.

Designed on the "fire-and-forget" principle, BrahMos can engage both land and maritime targets. It carries a conventional warhead and is known for its high speed, precision and low-altitude terminal flight profile, making interception difficult. The missile is currently deployed across multiple branches of the Indian armed forces and remains one of India's most significant defence export prospects as New Delhi seeks to expand its presence in the global defence market. (ANI)