The Defence Ministry signed a 1,700-crore contract with BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd on September 22 for 35 combat and three practise BrahMos supersonic surface-to-surface cruise missiles for the Indian Navy’s two P-15B stealth guided missile destroyers.
“Induction of these dual-role capable missiles will significantly enhance the operational capability of the Navy fleet assets,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement.
Four stealth guided missile destroyers are being built under Project-15B at a cost of approximately 29,643.74 crores as a follow-up to the Kolkata class (Project 15A) destroyers. They are named after major cities from all over the country, including Visakhapatnam, Mormugao, Imphal, and Surat. While the INS Visakhapatnam was commissioned at the end of 2021, the other three have already entered service.
They are designed by the Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design and built by Mumbai-based Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited. They have a displacement of 7,400 tonnes, enhanced stealth features, resulting in a lower radar cross section, and are loaded with sophisticated state-of-the-art weapons and sensors, such as BrahMos and Barak-8 Surface-to-Air missiles.
Joint venture
BrahMos is a joint venture between the DRDO and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya, and the missile gets its name from the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers. The missile, which can be launched from land, sea, subsea, and air, has long been used by the Indian armed forces.
The missile’s range was originally limited to 290 kilometres due to Missile Technology Control Regime obligations (MTCR). Following India’s admission to the club in June 2016, DRDO officials stated that the range would be increased to 450 km and then to 600 km later. The ER version has been tested several times on warships, including the
INS Visakhapatnam.
