Dispute over BrahMos field trial continues

It has been more than a week since a new version of supersonic cruise missile was test-fired but the Army is still to make up its mind on whether it was successful or not. The result of the test carried out at the Army’s Pokhran field firing range in Rajasthan on March 4 is still being evaluated, said officials. Even as Brah- Mos Aerospace officials have claimed that the missile achieved the desired results during the trial, the Army still maintains that it is evaluating the general staff quality requirements. The dispute over the trial result has only widened the rift between the Army and the scientific establishment. The BrahMos officials claim that the missile had hit the target within the error probability. The Army claims that since it is going to be the end-user, it should be fully satisfied whether the weapon system is capable of delivering as per its requirements. This was the second test of the missile after a trial conducted in January had failed.

The Army wanted the cruise missile to identify and hit a target among a group of objects. In the first test, the missile had completely failed and the scientists blamed it on a defect in the homing software which was being used for the first time. BrahMos has a range of 290 km but the new version is being tested in a short range scenario. The missile was assigned to hit the target within a distance of around 40 km. It becomes more challenging to guide the supersonic missile within a short distance. The duration of the test was a mere 150 seconds. The difference of opinion between the Army and the BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russian Federal Unitary Enterprise, has added to the widening rift between the developer and the end-user.

t has opened the debate in the defence establishment over the quality of indigenous weapons systems being developed by DRDO. The Army still has problems with the main battle tank Arjun. It came to a point when the entire project was close to being scrapped till it was revived by the personal intervention of Defence Minister A K Antony. The Air Force is not satisfied with the home built Light Combat Aircraft. The scientific establishment feels that there is a lobby within the Armed Forces that prefers to go for foreign equipment.

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