Air BrahMos to be tested by 2012

(Deccan Chronicle)  :  With its record of success in testing various variants of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, the Brahmos aerospace company has planned to test its air variant by 2012.
Speaking to the reporters after delivering his lecture to school students during a science awareness campaign organised by Sathyabama University on Monday, Brahmos Aerospace CEO A Sivathanu Pillai said, “We are going to test the missile from an aircraft so that it can be inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF). The testing will be done before the end of 2012”.
BrahMos has already been inducted into the Army and the Navy after successful tests. Mr Pillai said the Defence Research Development Organisation is working on increasing the speed of the missile. “We are also working on achieving hypersonic speed. It will take five more years”, he said.
While addressing students, he pointed out that former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had provided the vision for India’s missile programme. It was under his guidance that India started research and development of several missiles, including Prithvi and Nag, he said.
The cruise missiles developed by BrahMos, a joint venture between India and Russia, can travel at speeds of Mach 2.8 (2.8 times the speed of sound) against the US Tomahawk at 0.8 Mach, he said.
Sathyabama university chancellor Jeppiaar exhorted school students to take up research careers to make India a developed country by 2020.
He also said that the university had been working closely with research organisations to develop various products.