BrahMos unit set to bag key orders

( By  The Hindu):  BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Limited (BATL), which caters to the product requirements of the country's defence, aerospace and nuclear industries, is set to bag key orders that will fuel the company's bid to become an industry major in these sectors.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), it is reliably learnt, is contemplating making the BATL its next work centre for production of cryogenic and semi-cryogenic engines.

“Presently, the cryogenic as well as liquid engines for the ISRO are made by a consortium comprising Godrej and MTAR Technologies. Technical collaboration would be a lot easier with the BATL taking up the job as the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre [VSSC] and the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, which have designed and developed the engine, are located within four and 30 kilometres from it. BrahMos Thiruvananthapuram has been asked by the ISRO to produce some components of the cryogenic engine, but to execute it in full, it requires the Rotary Vacuum Brazing facility. A request to set it up at the BATL is being pursued with the ISRO,” a top BrahMos source told The Hindu in Thiruvananthapuram two weeks ago. The BATL had earlier purchased equipment worth Rs.25 crore on a grant from the ISRO.

The company is sparing no effort to deliver before March next a BrahMos cruise missile container (canister), ordered as a trial piece. “We have secured a crucial order to manufacture 135 BrahMos containers, each costing about Rs.30 lakh to Rs.35 lakh,” said the source.

Already under fabrication at the BATL are the liquid Vikas engines for the ISRO and the firm has so far been able to deliver 16 of them. “In addition, an order for 12 more has come. Material for six engines is available and four would be realised this year itself,” said the source. “The BATL makes the full engine in-house. And, the complicated friction ring of the engine is manufactured only by it,” said the source.

The first set of subsystems of the BrahMos missile such as the FDU (front docking unit), shutter assembly and cable separator — together called ‘metallic airframe components' — delivered by the BATL is undergoing quality and acceptance tests and the company is positive about getting a fresh order for 200 such sets. “This would require us to set up a separate production line and the process is well under way,” said the source.

The machining capability of the BATL spans products with diameters ranging from 0.5 millimetres to 2.5 metres (for L-40 propellant tank cages).

With the process of acquisition of nearby land for the second phase development of the company facing delays, a modest complex for the integration of the cruise missile has now been carved out within the existing campus with assistance from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Also in place is a facility for meteorology for the accommodation of fresh equipment.

The company, which had delivered three-piece manipulators (robotic arms used in atomic reactors) to the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is hoping to receive supplementary orders and is negotiating with the BARC to set up a plant at the BATL for this.

“While assorted product range, relatively less volume of orders and research and development activities are restricting the company's margin of profit from leapfrogging, it is definitely growing at a comfortable pace,” the source maintained.