The Brahmos missile maybe potent but it is way too expensive. The only defense budget it will bleed is the Indian. Photo Credit: PIBOctober 06, 2009, (Sawf News) - The Brahmos missile maybe potent but it is way too expensive. The only defense budget it will bleed is the Indian.
The reason why the Brahmos is very expensive is because the Russians want it priced out of the market and ensure that is so by demanding a large cut ($5 million +) for every missile sold. So why would Russia price the Brahmos out of the market?
The Brahmos is based on the SS-NX-26 (Yakhont) missile. The Russians continue to market the Yakhont, a direct Brahmos competitor to prospective clients at a much lower cost than the Brahmos.
The Indonesian Navy, for example, is interested in buying the Yakhont for their missile boats.
On paper Brahmos is a joint Indian-Russian missile development project, but in reality it is nothing more than license manufacture.
Indian scientists have undoubtedly worked on the guidance system of the Brahmos but their is no denying the fact that production of the missile will grind to a halt any day the Russians decided to withhold supply of its ramjet engines. So can we call it an Indian missile?
The PAK-FA / FGFA project is unlikely to be any different from the Brahmos project. During a press conference on October 1, IAF Chief PV Naik said that India and Russia have exchanged technical specifications for the fighter aircraft. Considering that three prototypes of the PAK-FA have already been built and the first flight of the aircraft may well take place before the end of the year, you are left wondering who is fooling whom!
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