Story of BrahMos: How APJ Abdul Kalam led the development of India's first supersonic cruise missile system

Story of BrahMos: How APJ Abdul Kalam led the development of India's first supersonic cruise missile system

Story of  Brahmos Naveen News

In February 12, 1998, former President APJ Abdul Kalam and NV Mikhailov, Russia's first Deputy Defence Minister, signed an inter-governmental agreement, which led to the formation of BrahMos Aerospace (BA), a joint venture between DRDO and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM), with India holding a 50.5 percent stake and Russia 49.5 percent. India's indigenously developed supersonic cruise missile system BrahMos, which reportedly played a key role in striking military bases within Pakistan during May 7-10 conflict, was developed originally through a partnership between India and Russia. At the Powering Bharat Summit on Friday, former Director General of Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) SK Mishra said that the story of BrahMos began with the India's former President APJ Abdul Kalam's visit to Russia in 1993.

Kalam, the then secretary of DRDO, had gone to Russia to explore ways of collaborating with Moscow for development of supersonic cruise missiles. "During his visit, Kalam was shown a supersonic combustion engine, which was 'half complete'. And this was due to lack of funds on account of the dissolution of Soviet Union," Mishra said during the summit.

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Five years later, on February 12, 1998, Kalam and NV Mikhailov, Russia's first Deputy Defence Minister, signed an inter-governmental agreement, which led to the formation of BrahMos Aerospace (BA), a joint venture between DRDO and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM), with India holding a 50.5 percent stake and Russia 49.5 percent.

The joint venture aimed to design, develop, manufacture, and market the world's only supersonic cruise missile system — BrahMos. The first contract was signed on July 9, 1999, with funding of $123.75 million from Russia and $126.25 million from India. Development commenced the same year across specialized laboratories of DRDO and NPOM, says the BA website.

The first successful launch of BrahMos occurred on June 12, 2001, from a land-based launcher at the Interim Test Range off the Chandipur coast in Odisha. Subsequently, BrahMos Aerospace gained prominence, participating in domestic and international defense exhibitions, including its debut at the MAKS-1 exhibition in Moscow in 2001, the website says.

After numerous test trials meeting user requirements, the BrahMos missile system was inducted into service with the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force. The BrahMos missile flies at a speed of 2.8 mach, or almost three-times the speed of sound.

SK Mishra explained that the indigenously developed technology of India's Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), commenced in 1983 to achieve self-sufficiency in missile technology, was used to developed the BrahMos. Originally, planned to be launched for land and ship, BrahMos was redesigned to be suitable to getting launched from aircraft in 2013, Mishra said.

"However, the most challenging part was to integrate BrahMos with Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter jets. The redesign of the aircraft was done by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), which was done to carry the BrahMos,” said Mishra. He added that the Russian company Sukhoi, which originally developed the fighter jet, had projected the cost for redesign of the aircraft at Rs 1,300 crore but HAL did it in only Rs 88 crore.

In 2024, India delivered the BrahMos missiles to the Philippines, which marked the first export of the supersonic missile system by India. "Usually, buyers (other countries) while placing orders compared the missile systems with other similar system, but we're proud that in that screening, BrahMos emerged as the best system," said Mishra.

In 2022, India signed a $375 million deal with the Southeast Asian nation to supply the BrahMos weapon systems. The second batch of the same was delivered to Philippines in April, 2025. According to BrahMos Aerospace, several other countries, including Argentina, have also shown interest in procuring the missile system from India.