The Army has administered a reality check to DRDO on the project that it prides itself on, saying it will not order more Brahmos missiles unless its target seeker is improved. Photo Credit: PIBFebruary 01, 2009, (Sawf News) - The Army has administered a reality check to DRDO on the project that it prides itself on, saying it will not order more Brahmos missiles unless its target seeker is improved.
Disappointed by the recent failure of the missile and the huge cost overruns, the Army is not inclined to procure the additional 240 missiles it showed interest in earlier.
Under a RFP placed with Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) in mid January, the Army sought to procure additional missiles to equip two regiments.
"We do not plan to move the proposal to the Cabinet Committee on Security. Let DRDO explain the shortcomings," Army officials told The Sunday Express.
While placing the initial order for 66 missiles in 2006, the Army stipulated that Block II versions of the missiles delivered following the initial order be equipped with a "multi-spectral seeker" capable of better target discrimination than the current radar seeker.
The army wants a seeker that allows the missile to stay locked to its designated target even when the target area is cluttered.
The Block I missile radar seeker is only effective against isolated targets as the missile was basically designed to attack ships. When confronted with multiple targets in the target zone, the missile homes on to the target reflecting the maximum amount of radar energy.
In the land attack mode the missile can easily stray off its designated target when adjacent objects have relatively higher radar reflection.
Interestingly, DRDO acknowledged the failure of the January 20 test only after Chief of Army staff General Deepak Kapoor insisted on visiting the target site and found that the missile had overshot by a kilometer!
"The missile in itself is proven. The test's main objective was to evaluate the new homing scheme for the Army's Block-II missiles to hit a specific small target, with a low radar cross section, in a multi-target environment," BrahmMos Aerospace chief A Sivathanu Pillai late told the press.
"The complicated mission called for an advanced algorithm and intelligence embedded in the missile. The problem was in the software, not hardware. We are now revalidating the new software through extensive simulations. We will test the missile again within a month," he added.
Brahmos Aerospace is confident that the next test scheduled on February 10, will be a success though it is hard to comprehend how tweaking the software only will give the seeker a multi-spectral capability!
Even if the next test is a success, the Army will still need to ponder over the cost escalation.
Brahmos Aerospace is now quoting Rs 8,500 crore (October 2008 prices) for arming two regiments compared to Rs 3,000 crore in 2006. The company attributes the higher costs to the Russians who are now asking for Rs 27 crore per missile instead of Rs 13 crore!
DRDO officials are playing down the cost escalation.
"There is a clause in the contract with the Russians, which caters for 10-15 per cent increase in the price of the missile every year but it certainly is not three-fold," they say.
DRDO claims that the missile was jointly developed by India and Russia notwithstanding, 80% of its components, including the liquid ramjet engine and the radar seeker, are imported in knock-down condition to be reassembled by the Russians.
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